


This Light I See

by shinichan82



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-11 15:03:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15318102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinichan82/pseuds/shinichan82
Summary: Toushirou Hitsugaya experiences feelings for a member of his division. Can he let go of his responsibilities and give in to his feelings? Meanwhile, he leads an Expedition Squad in the human world to monitor suspicious activity.





	1. Desires

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach, any of the characters or their likeness. Don’t sue me. You won’t get much anyway. I only own the original characters that have been created by me and my friends.

“Are you even listening to me, Kawahone?”  
“Hm? Ah! Sorry, Lieutenant,” the petite, dark blue haired girl said as her light green eyes moved away from the target of her gaze, blushing slightly.  
“Well, I’m done speaking anyway. You’re dismissed.”  
Mikaze Kawahone bowed and took a quick glance at her Captain before leaving.  
Toushirou pretended that he was doing paperwork at his desk, but secretly watched from the corner of his eye as the girl left. Mikaze admired her Captain very much, but all she ever did was watch him during meetings and such. She was content with just being in his division, where she could be somewhat close to him. Even if all she did was stand in the back of the room most of the time. Mikaze started walking back to her room when her eyes were suddenly covered.  
“Guess who?” a girl’s voice was heard.  
“Shiori, why do you always like to sneak up on me?” Mikaze asked as the girl behind her took her hands away from her eyes and came around to stand in front of the small girl.  
Shiori Yamamoto, Mikaze’s best friend since graduating from the Shinigami academy, was tall, slender and beautiful with her long, dark purple hair and violet eyes.  
“I like having fun with you. Besides, how to do you always know that it’s me?” the taller girl asked.  
“You are the only one who does that to me.” Mikaze replied.  
“Oh, right.” Shiori smiled. “So, did you confess your love to Toshi yet?”  
“What?! No way! I can’t just come out and tell him.”  
“Oh, come on. You knew him back at the academy, didn’t you?” Shiori asked.  
“Well, I didn’t really know him. It was more like we were first years at the same time. Besides, he graduated way before me and he probably doesn’t even remember that we met back then. Even if it was just for an instant…” Mikaze responded.  
“Pshh. Who cares if he doesn’t remember you? You love him, don’t you? So, tell him. What’s the worst that could happen?” Shiori asked.  
“He could think I’m a freak and force me to leave Division Ten. Oh! I don’t want to leave Division Ten.” Mikaze panicked.  
“You won’t have to leave the division.” Shiori said flatly.  
Mikaze sighed. “You know… I have felt a bit like I’ve been being watched while in meetings since you and got back from that mission.”  
“Really? Do you think that he’s watching you?” Shiori asked.  
“No way! Why would he watch me? I’m not interesting to say the least and considering I hide out in the back and I’m shorter than everyone there, I don’t think he can see me either.”  
“He’s Toushirou Hitsugaya. He can do anything he wants.” Shiori retorted.  
Mikaze just looked at her friend, a bit of doubt on her face.  
Toushirou walked out of his office and planned on heading toward the Captain’s Quarters. He saw two girls talking, one with dark violet hair, the other with midnight blue hair, Shiori Yamamoto and Mikaze Kawahone. Toushirou decided to stay out of sight as to not disturb what the two girls might have been talking about. He hid for that purpose only; it wasn’t the fact that he had feelings for the blue haired girl at all. He noticed that the two were talking about something serious, and although he couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, he did hear his name mentioned.  
‘They’re talking about me. Interesting.’ The Captain thought.  
Once the girls were done talking, they parted and left the area. The Captain made sure no one was around before letting out an exasperated sigh. At times he wished that he didn’t have to be a Captain so that he could just act on impulses, but as Captain of Division Ten, Toushirou had to act accordingly. He sometimes even thought that his best friend, Momo Hinamori was a bit too casual for a Lieutenant. Although, quite a few years had passed since Aizen’s betrayal, Momo still seemed to be a bit affectionate toward the former captain and would argue with people whenever they mentioned the name distastefully. Toushirou finally entered his room and sat down at the small desk that was set against the wall opposite his bed. The captain decided to write in a journal that he had been keeping for quite some time. 

She has only been back for a short time and I feel like it has been forever since I saw her last. I worry so much when she is gone on missions, even if she is with her so called best friend, Shiori Yamamoto. I think I worry more when she is with Yamamoto than anything. That girl can be troublesome at times, which I think might rub off on the sweet, innocent girl. Tomorrow we are having a division photo taken, thanks to Matsumoto. I still don’t know how she gets me into these kinds of situations.

Toushirou sighed as he finished his entry and wondered how a photo shoot with the entire division would go. Toushirou had noticed that the sun had set, leaving the Seireitei in complete darkness. Toushirou had remembered that it was Mikaze’s night to patrol the Division Ten barracks for a few hours. It was the only time that Toushirou and Mikaze could have alone together, even if she didn’t know it. Tonight, like every night Mikaze would patrol, Toushirou would watch the girl from the roof tops.

Mikaze left her room with a sigh, she disliked doing night patrol, but it was Captain’s orders and she would obey her Captain no matter what. Besides, not being a high rank or seated officer in her division, she would most likely have to do all the little jobs along with everyone else in her position. As Mikaze walked down the pathways around Division Ten, she could sense it, the reiatsu of her Captain, which made her smile. Mikaze liked the fact that Toushirou was watching over her on her patrol, it made her feel as if she had protection, someone stronger than she was to back her up if need be. Mikaze hadn’t been paying much attention to where she was stepping and tripped right on a slightly raised tile. She closed her eyes and shouted, expecting to feel the hard ground once she fell, but she felt something different. It definitely was not the ground; it felt more like… arms? Mikaze opened her eyes and blinked up at her Captain. Toushirou had seen Mikaze trip and used shunpo to save her from hitting the ground. Mikaze blushed as she looked up into Toushirou’s teal eyes. Toushirou realized what had happened and blushed as well, helping the blue haired girl stand.  
“Thank you.” Mikaze said shyly.  
Toushirou cleared his throat. “You’re welcome.”  
Mikaze’s patrol was over once she reached the front of the barracks and went back to her room. Mikaze sat on her bed, her heart still pounding in her chest from being so close to her Captain. They had been so close, it had felt nice. She put the memory of his arms around her and the way it felt to lean against him into a special place in her memory and decided to go to sleep.

 

The next morning, Mikaze heard voices at her door.  
“No, what are you doing? She’s still sleeping. You shouldn’t go in there.”  
Mikaze recognized that voice and she could listen to that voice for the rest of her life, but why was he telling someone else that they shouldn’t come in?  
“Captain, she’s got to come with us.”  
“Why? I don’t want her to come with us.”  
“Captain, this will be a good opportunity for her.”  
“To do what?”  
“I don’t know. Maybe she can show her worth and we can convince her to take the Captain’s test.”  
“If she wanted to take the Captain’s test, she would have done so by now. We shouldn’t be here, Matsumoto. Let her sleep. She had patrol last night and she just came back from a mission.”  
A sigh came from Rangiku. “Fine, you’re a spoil sport.”  
Toushirou’s voice rang in Mikaze’s ears as she smiled and drifted off back to sleep. She could definitely listen to his voice forever.  
Rangiku smiled at the softness the Captain had for the blue haired girl. She knew that he never would have let anyone else sleep in, even if they had to patrol the night before or just came back from a mission. The Lieutenant thought this was a bit unfair and she even heard some of the complaints from the other Division members, but there was no arguing with the Captain, especially on the matter of Mikaze. Toushirou had feelings for the girl, but thought it forbidden to be with her, so he treated her like someone special and the rest of the Division was starting to regret it. No one else ever got special treatment. One division member even suggested to Rangiku, after a meeting was over and both Mikaze and Toushirou were out of ear shot, if there was any way to transfer the girl to another division. Rangiku told him that there was no way that the Captain would ever go for that, even if it were better for the division and maybe him. Toushirou had once told Rangiku about his feelings for Mikaze, but there was just one thing in the way, she was a member of his division. Rangiku had tried to convince Toushirou to convince Mikaze to take the Captain’s test so that she’d be a part of a different division, but then he protested with saying that if she became Captain, they certainly wouldn’t be able to be together. Rangiku sighed again, getting her Captain and Mikaze together was going to be tough. She cared for Toushirou and Mikaze and just wanted to see them happy. Rangiku knew just who to ask to help get the two younger Shinigami together, Shiori Yamamoto.

 

Mikaze finally woke to the sun on her face, although there was a shadow blocking the sun from her eyes. Someone was standing at her doorway. Her best friend, Shiori, stared down at her with violet eyes.  
“Yo! How long are you going to sleep? Man, Toshi is too soft on you.”  
“Captain Hitsugaya,” Mikaze put emphasis on Captain, “Is only looking out for my well-being.”  
“Then why is it that you’re the only one to ever sleep in after doing a night of patrol?” Shiori asked.  
Mikaze blushed. “I’m younger than the rest of the division. I need my sleep.”  
“Sure thing, Kaze. Just keep telling yourself things like that.” Shiori retorted.  
Shiori heard someone clear their throat from behind her causing her to turn around, only to see the short, white haired Captain of Division Ten standing behind her.  
Toushirou looked up at Shiori and nodded to her.  
“Yamamoto.” He said.  
“Captain Hitsugaya.” Shiori responded. “Good morning.”  
“It’s more like afternoon.” Toushirou said as he looked at Mikaze, and then blushed as he turned away so that neither girl could see his face.  
Mikaze blushed as well as she realized that she was wearing only her shitagi1 and it had come open slightly while she was sleeping.  
“I came to see if you were awake yet.” Toushirou said.  
“Well, she is now.” Shiori stated.  
“Thank you, Yamamoto.” Toushirou said as he walked out.  
Shiori watched the Captain leave and heard a sigh escape Mikaze. She turned around to see her friend pulling on her kosode2 and hakama3, then tied the hakama-himo4 around her waist. Mikaze then turned and put on her tabi5 and zori6. She pulled her hair up on either side of her head and tied it up with some hair ties then placed the silver beads she usually wore on either side where she had pulled her hair up. This almost made the blue haired girl look younger, but if it weren’t for the fact that she carried a sword around, most people would have thought it. As Mikaze stepped towards her door, she grabbed her Zanpakutou and tied it to her right side; being left handed she had to do this. Once outside the barracks, Mikaze saw her Captain standing nearby. She stared at the back of him for quite some time before he said something.  
“Huh?” she said as she shook herself out of a trance.  
“Come with me.” Toushirou said, not turning around and started to walk.  
Mikaze had to trot a bit to catch up to him, but she didn’t dare get too close. Where was he taking her? She had never gone this way before. Where did it lead? Mikaze soon looked up as they headed up a long set of stairs, they were headed to the Division One meeting hall.  
“This is Division One. Why are we here?” Mikaze asked.  
“Head Captain Yamamoto has asked me to bring you here. He didn’t tell me why and he doesn’t want me in there when he talks to you.” Toushirou said.  
“What? He wants to talk to me alone?”  
“Yes.”  
The door suddenly opened and Mikaze gulped. She became very nervous now. The door seemed much bigger than the rest of the Division doors, but she could see the Head Captain in the back of the room, sitting in a chair.  
“Come in, my dear.” Yamamoto said.  
Mikaze looked at Toushirou for some reassurance but he just stood there. She sighed and entered the large room, the doors closing behind her. She looked back to see the face of her Captain fading as the doors closed then they were completely shut. She turned back around; no one else was in the room except her and Head Captain Yamamoto.  
“Y-you wanted to see me, s-sir?” Mikaze stuttered.  
“Yes. Please come closer. I don’t like to shout.”  
Mikaze walked forward so that she was right in front of the Head Captain.  
“I asked you to come here so that I could talk to you.”  
“Talk to me about what, sir?”  
“I would like you to be a part of the Expedition Squad that I have put together.”  
“Expedition Squad?”  
“Yes. Captain Hitsugaya is leading the squad and you are all to leave tonight.”  
“Tonight?” Mikaze sounded shocked.  
“Yes. Tonight. Lieutenant Matsumoto, Lieutenant Abarai, Rukia Kuchiki, and Shiori Yamamoto are also part of the Expedition Squad. Matsumoto is second in command, being Hitsugaya’s Lieutenant.”  
Mikaze nodded in agreement.  
“Abarai and Kuchiki are going mainly because they are both strong and they both know our contact very well. Shiori, my granddaughter, is going mainly so I can keep her out of trouble, but that is also why I am asking you to go.”  
Mikaze looked at the Head Captain in confusion.  
“I want you to keep an eye on Shiori while you are all there. My granddaughter can be a bit… ostentatious at times.”  
Mikaze nodded again, this she knew was true. Mikaze remembered a time where Shiori had unintentionally drawn so much attention to herself that even she felt embarrassed for her friend.  
“I know that with you around her, Shiori may not cause so much trouble.”  
Mikaze waited for a moment to be dismissed, but it did not come.  
“Also, I think you would be a great asset to Captain Hitsugaya.”  
“Sir?”  
“With your Shikai and Bankai, I think you would be an asset to the team.”  
“I see.” Mikaze responded.  
“You are dismissed. Please let Captain Hitsugaya know what I have decided.”  
“Yes, sir.” Mikaze said as she turned to leave as the doors opened.  
Toushirou was waiting outside for Mikaze. She stepped outside the door.  
“Head Captain Yamamoto made me part of the Expedition Squad.” Mikaze said to her Captain.  
“What?!” Toushirou was shocked.  
“He thinks I’ll be a great asset to the team.” Mikaze said, only telling Toushirou part of what the Head Captain really said.  
Toushirou sighed, he didn’t like the fact that Mikaze was going with them to the human world, but he had no choice now, the Head Captain’s orders were final.  
Mikaze could sense some tension in her Captain and decided that she would try to lighten things up a bit.  
“Where are we going in the human world?” She asked.  
“Karakura Town in Japan.” Toushirou answered. “We leave tonight.”  
“Head Captain Yamamoto told me that part. He also asked me to keep an eye on Shiori.”  
“Really?” Toushirou asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“He said that she can be a bit troublesome.”  
“That’s for sure.” Toushirou agreed.  
The two walked the rest of the way to their barrack in silence, Mikaze trailing behind her Captain. Mikaze watched her Captain, she liked to watch him, she liked the way he moved, so fluid. Once the two arrived at the barracks, Mikaze started to run past Toushirou to go to the practice field.  
“I’m giving you the rest of the day off.” Toushirou said.  
Mikaze had stopped at Toushirou’s words.  
“Start preparing to leave.” He said as he passed Mikaze and went to his own quarters.  
Mikaze bowed to her Captain. “Yes, sir.” After Toushirou was out of sight, Mikaze ran to her room happily. She didn’t care where she was going or what she had to do, she was going to be along-side the white-haired boy she cared so much for.  
Mikaze soon wondered what she had to “prepare” for. All they would have to take was themselves and their Zanpakutou, wouldn’t they? Was there something the Captain wasn’t telling her? Just then, a knock came at her door. Mikaze opened the door and looked up to see her best friend’s light violet eyes peering down on her.  
“Shiori!” Mikaze exclaimed.  
“So, I hear grandfather requested you to come with us, huh?”  
Mikaze nodded.  
“That’s great. Now you can be near Toshi all the time.”  
“Captain Hitsugaya didn’t seem too thrilled that I was going.” Mikaze looked at the floor.  
“Of course not. He doesn’t want you to go.”  
“I know he doesn’t want me to go. He probably doesn’t think I’m strong enough to handle myself in the real world.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous! He wants to protect you. That’s why he doesn’t want you to go. He’s afraid something might happen to you when we’re out there. Grandfather told me he thinks you’ll be a great asset to the team.”  
“He told me the same thing.” Mikaze lied a little again.  
“So, why aren’t you practicing with the others?” Shiori asked.  
“Captain gave me the rest of the day off.” Mikaze said.  
“Really now? Is that so? I wonder what he could have possibly meant by that.” Shiori said, a bit of sarcasm seeping into the words.  
“What do you mean?” Mikaze asked. “He told me to prepare to leave.”  
“Sure! That’s Toshi-speak for follow me so that I can give you a ‘briefing’.”  
Mikaze looked at Shiori is shock.  
“Hurry up and go over there. Wear something nice of course. Then again, you might just go as you are. Not like you’ll be wearing it long.”  
Mikaze became flustered and blushed bright red. “Shiori!”  
Shiori burst out in laughter at the look on her friend’s face. She wiped the tears away from her eyes as she continued to laugh slightly.  
“Let’s go eat. It’s nearly lunch time.”  
“Good idea.” Mikaze said. “I’m starving. The walk to see Head Captain Yamamoto was very long. It took half the morning.”  
“Yeah, it’s killer without shunpo, especially those damn stairs.” Shiori said in agreement.

 

After lunch, Shiori and Mikaze went their separate ways to their own barracks to finish getting ready to leave for the human world, not like there was much to do to get ready. No one really had much to get together. All they really needed was their swords and themselves. Mikaze had an old picture of her and her brother that she slipped into her himo. It was at times like this that Mikaze wished she had a picture of her Captain, even if it was just a picture with him in it, she would settle for that.

 

It was soon time for everyone to leave through the senkaimon7. Mikaze met up with Shiori as they walked toward the Division One barracks again. Toushirou, being a Captain and the leader of the Expedition Squad, got to the gate first and was waiting alongside the Head Captain. Renji and Rukia arrived shortly after Mikaze and Shiori, followed by Rangiku.  
“Sorry I’m late.” Rangiku said. “I was-“  
Rangiku was cut off by the Head Captain raising his hand.  
“We don’t need to know why you’re late and actually, you’re quite on time. Everyone else is simply early.”  
“Great.” Rangiku said as she clapped her hands together and smiled.  
“Now it is time to depart.” Yamamoto said as six Hell butterflies came floating down to hover in front of the gate. “Do not forget your duties.”  
“Yes, sir.” The troop said in unison as they all stepped into the senkaimon.  
Shiori leaned over and whispered to Mikaze. “So? Did you go over there?”  
“Where?” Mikaze asked.  
“To Toshi’s place.”  
“No.”  
“What?! You totally should have gone. He totally would have loved it.”  
“He’s my Captain, Shiori. I can’t just be showing up at his quarters for no reason.”  
“It wouldn’t be for ‘no reason’. You could have made out or something.”  
“What?!”  
The others turned around to see what the commotion Mikaze had made was about, but Mikaze laughed nervously and said it was nothing.  
“Shiori, he is my Captain and we can’t be doing such things.”  
“Too bad you think like that. If I thought like that then Bya and I wouldn’t be…” Shiori trailed off.  
“Is something wrong between you and Captain Kuchiki?”  
“No… No! Nothing’s wrong. He’s just very difficult to get to show his emotions a lot of the time.”  
“I see. Maybe you should worry about your own love life than trying to worry about mine.”  
Ouch. That hurt Shiori a little, but her blue haired friend was somewhat right. Her own love life was not as great as she had hoped it would be, but she also wanted to at least see Toushirou and Mikaze happy if she couldn’t be. Shiori started to plot, Rangiku had come to her earlier that day and asked the violet haired girl if she could help get the Captain of Division Ten and their little shy friend together. Shiori had accepted this challenge, which, in her opinion, would be. Mikaze being a somewhat shy person, she was very quiet when not around close friends. Shiori had broken her small friend of being so formal around her. And then there was Toushirou, where to begin with the Captain. Toushirou was very serious and kept mostly things to himself. Shiori and Rangiku would have their work cut out for them.  
Everyone followed their respective butterflies to the exit of the senkaimon to enter the dark town of Karakura.  
“Our contact is Ichigo Kurosaki. Follow me.” Rukia told everyone. Rukia took everyone down a few streets, making turns here and there, until they came up on a bunch of houses and stopped in front of one adorning a sign that read “Medical Clinic”.  
“He lives here?” Mikaze asked.  
“Yes. Ichigo’s father is a doctor and runs a small clinic.” Rukia responded. “I contacted Ichigo earlier on us meeting him here. Where the hell is he?”  
“Ah! He must be coming now. I just saw his light turn on.” Rangiku said.  
“Geez, that guy never shows up on time…” Rukia said under her breath.  
“What was that, shrimp?”  
“You’re always late, you buffoon.” Rukia shouted up at the orange haired man peering out the window.  
“Is that Kurosaki?” Mikaze asked.  
“Yes. Kurosaki is an idiot.” Toushirou said.  
“Ah, don’t be like that, Toushirou.” Ichigo said as he came out of his front door.  
“That’s Captain Hitsugaya to you, Kurosaki.” Toushirou said, sounding a bit peeved.  
“I still don’t see why you had to come here first. It’s night time. What am I supposed to do with all of you until morning?” Ichigo said.  
“Well, we can’t very well go to Urahara’s shop this late at night.” Rukia stated.  
“Why not? He probably would have been happy to see all of you and would have been able to accommodate you all better than I can.”  
“Ah, c’mon man. You love having us over.” Renji said to Ichigo, ruffling the orange hair.  
“I don’t really mind if one or two of you is here, but six?”  
“You’ve had six of us in your room at once before.” Rangiku said, remembering the time when she was trying to get Ichigo to see her better parts.  
“And I didn’t like it in the least.”  
“In any case, we need somewhere to stay until we can get to Urahara’s shop in the morning.” Toushirou stated.  
Ichigo sighed. “Alright, c’mon in.” He said as he led everyone upstairs and to his room. “Just be quiet.”  
“Why? No one but you can see us.” Renji said.  
“Karin can see us. She saw me once.” Toushirou said.  
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Ichigo’s little sister. The one with black hair, right?” Rangiku asked.  
Ichigo nodded. “Yuzu can kind of see spirits, but just barely. Karin can totally see spirits so be careful when you’re here. I don’t want any questions to be asked.”  
“We’re actually going to be sleeping here?” Mikaze asked.  
“Yes, but only for the night.” Rukia said.  
“Make yourselves comfortable.” Ichigo said as he got back into his own bed.  
Rukia went to her usual place inside Ichigo’s closet, which caused Mikaze to look on in confusion. Shiori and Mikaze lay on the floor next to Ichigo’s bed, which he had already set a pair of makeshift beds. Rangiku took a pillow and laid on the floor at the foot of Ichigo’s bed, Renji laid on the floor at Shiori’s and Mikaze’s feet, leaving Toushirou to lie in the space between Rangiku and Renji. Everyone was soon captured by slumber and morning came all too soon.

 

Toushirou was the first one to wake up. He stayed lying for a moment and looked over at the blue haired girl and smiled. He thought she looked pretty as she slept; like an angel. Rangiku woke soon after, only cracking her eyes open just enough to see her Captain smiling kindly as he looked over at what she knew was Mikaze. Rangiku smiled at her Captain and then opened her eyes completely, causing Toushirou to turn with a blush gracing his cheeks. Rangiku giggled slightly at Toushirou’s childishness.  
“What’s so funny?” Ichigo’s voice came from the bed.  
“Nothing.” Rangiku replied. “I just had a funny dream.”  
Everyone else started waking up, much to Ichigo’s delight.  
“Now that everyone is up and about, can you leave before my family gets up and sees you?” Ichigo asked.  
“Yeah, yeah, we’re going.” Rukia said as she opened Ichigo’s window and went to jump out.  
“I meant through the door.” Ichigo called after Rukia as she had already jumped down to the street below.  
“The window is more convenient.”  
“She’s right, ya know.” Shiori said as she too jumped out of the window.  
Ichigo sighed as Rangiku, Renji, Mikaze and Toushirou soon followed. Well, at least they were out of his house now. Ichigo then remembered that they would all have to stay somewhere and Rukia would most likely want to stay with him again this time. Ichigo couldn’t help it though, he liked it when Rukia stayed with him.  
Rukia led the other five to Urahara’s shop, where they were greeted by two children, a boy with bright red hair and a girl with black pigtails. The boy was very out spoken while the girl was quiet.  
“How is it that I always get stuck with sweeping, Ururu?”  
“Just lucky I guess.”  
The boy looked up from his chore and saw the group of people, all of them dressed in Shinigami robes.  
“Hey there, Rukia.”  
“Hello, Jinta. How are things going with the shop?”  
“Oh, things are the same. The boss never gets anything done, as usual, but now it’s worse since Yoruichi’s been around.”  
Rukia raised an eyebrow and snickered. “Really?”  
“So, who’re the girls with you guys?” Jinta asked.  
“This is Mikaze Kawahone.” Rukia said as she introduced the girl to her right, who had midnight blue hair and light green eyes. Mikaze was standing closest to Toushirou. “Mikaze is in Division Ten.”  
“Ah, you’ve arrived. Miss Yamamoto, it’s good to see you.” Urahara said to the girl with dark purple hair and violet eyes, standing to Rukia’s left.  
“Hiya, Kisuke.” Shiori said.  
“Do they know each other?” Renji asked.  
“We have only met once, when I was very young. Grandfather had called him in to talk to him. That was before you left, wasn’t it?”  
“I believe it was. And I heard you say this young woman is Mikaze Kawahone? I’ve heard quite a bit about you. You have very good skills as a Shinigami, even though you came from the Rukongai District.”  
“Where you come from doesn’t determine your skills.” Toushirou chimed in defensively, a slight blush on his face.  
“That’s very true. Look at your power. You’re one of the best Captains in Shinigami history.”  
Urahara’s mood changed from serious to relaxed in an instant.  
“Won’t you all come in? Please, make yourselves comfortable while I get you all something to drink and eat.”  
Urahara stopped Mikaze and Toushirou as they were about to walk into the shop.  
“I can see that you two are very fond of each other. I’d have to be blind not to see it, or stupid not to notice it. The way you came to her defense, it’s totally obvious. You should take full advantage of your feelings; they might help you later.”  
Blush graced both Mikaze’s and Toushirou’s faces. Urahara went inside the shop, leaving Toushirou and Mikaze alone outside the door. Mikaze took a step to go inside the shop but Toushirou took her hand and pulled her to the side of the shop.  
“Captain?”  
“Call me Toushirou.” The white-haired boy said in a kind voice.  
Toushirou gently pulled Mikaze closer, his left hand and her right hand entwined, his right arm around her waist, her left hand on his right arm. Toushirou looked deep into Mikaze’s eyes. Her hear skipped with happiness. Could this really be happening? Were they really this close or was this just a dream? Toushirou decided to throw everything out the window as he bent down and kissed the girl that was standing so close to him. Mikaze’s eyes were wide for a moment but then she relaxed into Toushirou and kissed her Captain back. If this was a dream, it was a good one and Mikaze didn’t want to wake up or do anything to mess it up.

Thanks for reading. I hope that I can keep up the hard work. I am working on revising the rest of the chapters that I currently have saved.  
Here are some terms that I numbered throughout the chapter to help understand better. I had to do a bit of research to find out the meanings of everything. Hope you all like this chapter.  
1: Shitagi – literal translation means underwear. It is the white kimono-like garment worn underneath the Shinigami uniform.  
2: Kosode – translation means short sleeves or quilted garment. It is the black top part of the Shinigami uniform.  
3: Hakama – translation means man’s formal divided skirt. It is the pants worn as part of the Shinigami uniform.  
4: Hakama-himo – himo means string or cord. It is the sash that ties the hakama and holds it in place.  
5: Tabi – traditional Japanese socks.  
6: Zori – Japanese sandals.  
7: Senkaimon – translation means world penetration gate. It is the gate used to enter the human world.


	2. Secrets

Toushirou broke the kiss first to get some air. Mikaze didn’t want his lips to leave hers. She opened her eyes to see his teal orbs staring deeply into her own light green ones.  
“You have done something to me that no one has been able to truly accomplish. You have melted my heart.” Toushirou whispered to Mikaze.  
The blue haired girl fainted.  
‘Great…’ Toushirou thought. ‘Why did this have to happen?’  
Toushirou took Mikaze inside, which caused everyone to ask questions of what had happened. Toushirou told everyone that she was all right and she must have just been tired, so she fainted. Rangiku thought that her Captain looked like he was feeling guilty about something, but she brushed it off. Urahara had Toushirou take Mikaze to a back room to sleep since she had been so tired.  
Toushirou placed Mikaze gently on the bed in the room, so as not to wake her. He watched her sleep for a moment and brushed her cheek with his fingers. Her skin was so soft, and he wanted to kiss those sweet lips again. As Toushirou got up and headed out the door, he thought about what to tell the girl when she woke up. Did he tell her that it was all real and that he really did kiss her, and he meant what he said, or did he tell her that she must have dreamt the whole thing? Maybe he would just wait to tell her something if she asked him about it. Toushirou wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing in kissing Mikaze. Yes, he did love her and according to Urahara, and probably everyone else, Mikaze loved him just the same, but the only thing was he didn’t want Mikaze being hurt if Head Captain Yamamoto decided to send either of them or even both of them into exile. Toushirou went back out into the sitting area with the others and decided that it was best just not to mention anything to Mikaze unless she asked him about it. Maybe she would think it was all a dream.

 

When Mikaze woke up, she didn’t realize where she was. She thought that she might still be at Ichigo’s house and that it was morning. She knew when her Captain kissed her that it was too good to be true; everything had just been a dream. Mikaze soon realized that she wasn’t still at Ichigo’s house, this was different. She got up and left the room she was in to go see exactly where she was. Mikaze went into the sitting room to see Shiori, Renji, Rukia and Rangiku sitting with Urahara.  
“He’s sitting up on the roof.” Urahara answered the unasked question that was on Mikaze’s mind.  
“Oh. Wait, who?” Mikaze asked.  
“Captain is, of course. He likes to look at the sky when he thinks, or when something is troubling him.” Rangiku said.  
“I like to do that too… Either the sky or my old home…” Mikaze said a bit quietly, a bit of sadness in her eyes as she thought about her dead brother and then about Toushirou. She could have sworn that they had really kissed, but it seemed to have been a dream. It sure was a realistic dream. Mikaze could still feel the softness of Toushirou’s lips on hers, the warmth of his body against hers, his arms around her. Mikaze had to know from Toushirou himself if what she had experienced was a dream or not, but she would ask him later. Mikaze thought she would let her Captain have some time to think. If they really had kissed, maybe he was regretting doing so. He was her Captain after all and she was just a low-ranking Division member.  
Toushirou walked back in through the front door and saw that Mikaze was awake. They stared at each other for a moment, both wondering things, thinking if they should confront each other just now.  
“You’re awake. That’s good.” Toushirou finally said.  
“Yes.” Mikaze responded. “I’m sorry.”  
“It’s not your fault.” Toushirou said as he walked pasts everyone to go outside to the back of the shop.  
Mikaze was a bit confused at first. Did Toushirou say that it wasn’t her fault because what had happened before she fainted really happened? She had really hoped that the kiss was real. Maybe he was pretending that nothing happened so that no one would ask questions, but it made Mikaze think that maybe it would cause more questions if they were to sneak around.  
Mikaze sat at the table between Shiori and Rukia and was offered a cup of tea and a cute little star shaped cookie with white frosting and little blue sprinkles on it. This again made Mikaze think of her Captain and she looked toward the door that he had went through to go outside.  
“I think he’s worried about you.” Shiori said to Mikaze.  
Mikaze looked away from the door and at Shiori. “Why do you say that?”  
“Well, he has feelings for you and your one of his Division members.”  
“Captain Hitsugaya does not have feelings for me.” Mikaze said.  
“Oh my god, Mikaze! Everyone here knows he’s madly in love with you. Why can’t you see that?”  
What Shiori didn’t know is that Mikaze did know that her Captain had feelings for her, at least she thought she knew. She really had to know if the whole thing had been a dream. Mikaze excused herself from the table and walked outside from the back door and found Toushirou standing against the wall, looking at the sky. Mikaze stood in front of her Captain and was ready to ask him about earlier.  
“It wasn’t a dream.” The Captain said without looking away from the sky.  
“Captain?”  
“I really did kiss you.”  
Mikaze smiled, she was glad that it hadn’t been a dream, but then that meant that he really said those words to her, too. Toushirou loved her. Mikaze’s heart started pounding and her cheeks became flushed. Toushirou looked at Mikaze, she was so beautiful. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone in his life before, not even Momo, which at one point in his life, he thought he had loved her that way, but then he realized that he loved her like a sister and would protect her like a brother should protect his sister. Then there was Rangiku, he loved her like a best friend, even if she did things that would upset him at times, he still loved his Lieutenant, who was kind of motherly to him at times, and he would protect her, too. The love he felt for Mikaze was totally different, he would die for her. Sure, he would protect Momo at any cost, too, she was his best friend, but Mikaze meant more to him than anyone ever had.  
Mikaze started blushing deeper when she realized that she was still staring at her Captain and turned away. Her heart was beating so fast that she felt as if it was going to burst right out of her chest. She felt arms wrap around her and she closed her eyes. She gasped as she felt warm breath on her ear and neck.  
“Please keep this a secret. Okay?” Toushirou whispered into Mikaze’s ear.  
Mikaze nodded without even thinking, her mind was in a fog. Toushirou kissed Mikaze’s neck causing the blue haired girl to go weak in the knees, but she still stood on her own. As Toushirou let go of her and went back inside, she felt a bit empty, like something was missing. Toushirou was her other half, she knew that for sure now. With him next to her, she felt whole, complete, but he had just asked her to keep their relationship a secret and she had agreed. Mikaze knew that if word got out that they were being even the slightest bit intimate that they could both be exiled and would not be able to see each other ever again. Mikaze didn’t really want to keep their relationship a secret, but she knew what was at stake and she didn’t want to see her Captain get hurt. She even had to keep this a secret from Shiori and she didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep it from the older girl since they were best friends and Shiori could basically read Mikaze like a book.  
When Mikaze re-entered the shop, Toushirou was sitting at the table, sipping tea. Mikaze sat back down at the table between Rukia and Shiori, fresh tea poured into her cup and the cookie still on the table.  
“Well, now that everyone is with us. I think we should discuss your gigai. I have everyone’s gigai right here. Now I know the only ones who haven’t used gigai yet are Miss Kawahone and Miss Yamamoto so the two of you will have to go with someone that has already had a gigai so that you learn how to use them properly.” Urahara paused in thought for a moment. “Miss Yamamoto-“  
“Call me Shiori. Actually, Mikaze and I have been to the human world before and we have used gigai. It’s just been a very long time since we’ve used them, and we probably need a refresher course.” The purple haired girl said.  
“Shiori, you’ll be going with Abari.”  
“What? Why can’t she go with Rukia or Rangiku?” Renji complained.  
“I want her to go with you.”  
“Fine.” Renji sulked, even though he remembered the promise he made to his Captain to watch over purple haired girl.  
Mikaze too was a bit shocked that she and Shiori would be separated; Head Captain Yamamoto had asked her to keep an eye on her friend and keep her out of trouble. How was she supposed to do that when she wasn’t anywhere near the other girl?  
“And Kawahone, I would like you to go with Captain Hitsugaya.”  
Mikaze and Toushirou had slight shock on their faces. They would be alone together, with no one else to watch them.  
“Once you get back, we’ll discuss living situations. I’ll be sure to call the others over to discuss it and not just assume that they would allow you to stay with them.” Urahara stated.  
Rukia and Rangiku had left the shop to find some supplies. A slightly grumbling Shiori and a not so happy Renji left Urahara’s shop to break in Shiori’s gigai. Urahara looked at the two youngest Shinigami once again and started to say something to them but thought against it. He decided to watch the two instead and noticed a tender moment between them. Toushirou’s expression was much softer toward the blue haired girl than with anyone else.  
“You had better hurry before everyone else gets back.” Uarahara told them as he left the room to let the two have a moment before they left.  
“Come on. We should go get your gigai broken in.” Toushirou told Mikaze as he took her hand in his and led her out the door.  
Mikaze smiled, this was perfect. Toushirou was really himself when he was with her, he could really be open, and she could be the same with him. They were only truly themselves when they were with each other. Toushirou wanted to really help Mikaze get used to her gigai, he just wanted to protect the girl from harm and the gigai would mask her reiatsu from being detected by Hollows.   
Toushirou found an ice cream shop as the two walked.  
“Would you like some ice cream?” He asked.  
“Sure. I’ve never had ice cream before.” Mikaze answered.  
“I don’t really like the ice cream much. I usually get shaved ice.”  
“Oh. Hm…” Mikaze looked up at the menu for flavors. “Do you mind if I get two flavors?”  
Toushirou shook his head. “Anything you want.”  
Mikaze ordered a cone with a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of strawberry while Toushirou ordered a single shaved ice with watermelon flavor.  
“Watermelon?” Mikaze asked.  
“Yeah. Hinamori and I used to eat watermelon ever summer when we grew up together.” Toushirou answered.  
Toushirou watched Mikaze as she took a bite of her ice cream.  
“Wow! This is amazing!” Mikaze exclaimed.  
“I’m glad you like it.” Toushirou smiled.  
Mikaze smiled back. Toushirou was so cute when he smiled. He looked like a child.  
Once they were done eating their treats, Mikaze seemed a bit sad.  
“We don’t have to go back right away.” Toushirou suggested to an unsaid complaint.  
Mikaze was a bit shocked that her Captain would say this since she was so used to him wanting to get the job done. Toushirou took Mikaze by the hand and walked with her, finding an abandoned house. He took her inside and she looked at her Captain who had a strange look on his face.  
“Captain? Are you okay?” Mikaze asked.  
“I’m fine.” Toushirou said as he got closer to the girl in front of him.  
Mikaze looked around, they really were in an abandoned house with dust and debris everywhere.  
“C-captain?”  
“You look pretty in that dress.” Toushirou said in a kind of hushed tone.  
“Um, you look nice too.” Mikaze said and smiled.  
Mikaze wore a white sun dress that had little red flowers printed on it and thin red ribbon trimmed the bottom and the straps and tied around the waist to tie into a bow at the back, she also wore red flats that had a strap going across the top of her feet. Mikaze also wore a red sweater that stopped at her waist. Toushirou wore a pair of dark blue pants and a white sweater with a black collared shirt under it with the sleeves rolled up a bit and a black wrist band, he also wore white sneakers, which went very well with his ensemble. It was just barely spring in Karakura Town and the weather still called for something a bit warm to wear, which is why the two wore sweaters.  
Mikaze blinked in slight confusion at the white-haired Captain as he got even closer to her.  
“I thought you wanted to keep us a secret.” Mikaze said.  
“I do, for now, but we’re alone. We can just tell everyone that it took a while for you to get used to your gigai.” Toushirou informed.  
Mikaze was now cornered, backed into a wall, and as she looked into Toushirou’s deep gaze, she gave into him and pulled him in for a crushing kiss. The two moaned into each other’s mouths as Toushirou’s hands rested on Mikaze’s hips and Mikaze’s hands were on the back of Toushirou’s head and neck. Mikaze smiled and moaned as Toushirou kissed down her neck and pulled her sweater off to kiss her shoulder. She was in bliss feeling Toushirou’s soft lips on her skin and then back on her own lips. Toushirou loved Mikaze’s lips; they were sweet, like her.  
“C-cap… Toushirou…” Mikaze started.  
“Hm?” Toushirou responded as he kissed Mikaze’s collar bone.  
Mikaze had to fight a moan from escaping her lips. “I think we should stop.”  
Toushirou looked into Mikaze’s eyes. “You’re right. Everyone’s probably wondering where we are.”  
Mikaze didn’t really want to stop, but if they took things any farther, there would be no going back and who knows what would have happened to them once they got back, especially if the Head Captain found out.  
“Besides, I have something special planned for us to take this farther.” Toushirou said as he smiled and kissed the blue haired girl quickly.  
Mikaze was really confused now. Toushirou wanted to take their relationship farther? But what about getting in trouble with the Seireitei? Mikaze followed her Captain out of the abandoned house and back to Urahara’s shop and felt a bit awkward when everyone else was there staring at the two of them.  
“It took you two long enough. Where have you been?” Shiori said, like she didn’t know. For Shiori, Mikaze was easy to read and what was written on her face was that she and Toushirou had just made out.  
“We… It just took me a long time to get used to my gigai.” Mikaze informed everyone.  
“Well, come sit down and eat. The others are all on their way now.” Urahara said to Mikaze and Toushirou.  
Mikaze and Toushirou sat in their usual spots, Mikaze between Rukia and Shiori and Toushirou between Renji and Urahara.  
“I hope I can stay with Orihime again. Don’t you, Captain?” Rangiku said.  
“I don’t care. She cooks such strange food.” Toushirou said.  
“Aw, it’s just different.” Rangiku pouted at her Captain.  
Once Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu had arrived, it was agreed who would be staying with whom. Orihime was welcoming Rangiku back and to her delight, Toushirou and Mikaze would be staying with her as well. Rangiku had told Toushirou that Division Ten should stick together wherever they were staying, which made the white-haired Captain roll his eyes and agree, which then caused Rangiku to hug her Captain. Rukia was again staying with Ichigo and going to be bunking with Karin and Yuzu, which much to her dislike, was the only way Ichigo would let her stay there again. Rukia had become custom to sleeping in Ichigo’s closet because in case of a Hollow emergency, she was right there and could wake his butt up. As for Shiori and Renji, Chad had agreed to have Renji, but Renji protested when Urahara said that Shiori could stay at the shop.  
“Why do you have to be with me everywhere?” Shiori asked.  
“I was ordered… to watch over you.” Renji said a bit embarrassed.  
“By whom?”  
“Captain Kuchiki…” Renji said quietly.  
Shiori started laughing. She knew Byakuya would ask his Lieutenant to watch over her. As much as he hid his feelings from everyone, including her, she knew that he cared for her.  
So, everyone had agreed on where they were staying while they were in the human world. Mikaze still didn’t know how she was going to be keeping her friend out of trouble when she couldn’t be near the violet haired girl, but with Renji looking after her, she was probably going to be fine. Head Captain Yamamoto would understand that she couldn’t keep her eyes on Shiori twenty-four hours a day. He probably already knew that Renji had been asked to watch over her.  
Once everyone got to the places they were staying, it was basically time for dinner. Rangiku was delighted to hear that Orihime was making spaghetti with chocolate sauce, marshmallows and whipped cream. Mikaze and Toushirou looked at each other and then at the food with disgust.  
“I think we should order in.” Toushirou said.  
“Good idea.” Mikaze said.  
Toushirou used Orihime’s phone to call in an order for some sushi for him and Mikaze and thought that Orihime and Rangiku could eat what was made. Orihime set places for the four of them; Toushirou received the food once it arrived and paid the delivery man and everyone sat down and started eating. Toushirou had ordered enough food for four people just in case what Orihime had cooked up wasn’t good at all. Mikaze thanked her Captain for buying food and one of the pieces of sushi that Mikaze bit into was extremely spicy for her, which caused the girl’s eyes to start tearing.  
“Are you okay, Mikaze?” Orihime asked.  
Mikaze’s face started turning red and she squeezed her eyes shut and started screaming. “It’s too hot!”  
Mikaze felt as if her mouth was on fire and she thought that her tongue was going to be burned off. Toushirou ran into the kitchen to get a glass of water for Mikaze, but Orihime stopped him and got a glass of milk for the blue haired girl.  
“Drink this.” Orihime said as she handed Mikaze the glass.  
Mikaze gulped the milk down quickly, but her mouth was still burning slightly.  
“Eat some bread and that should help.” Orihime said as she brought out a slice of bread.  
Mikaze started eating the bread slowly since she wasn’t hungry anymore and the fire in her mouth subsided. Toushirou looked at Mikaze apologetically, he felt guilty for not telling her that there were spicy sushi rolls in the mix.  
By the time everyone settled down, it was time to go to bed. Orihime provided some pajamas for Rangiku and Mikaze, although they were a bit small for Rangiku since her bust was slightly larger than Orihime’s and they were too big for Mikaze since she was the size of a ten or twelve-year-old girl.  
“We’ll just have to go shopping tomorrow.” Rangiku said.  
Toushirou rolled his eyes, although he thought it was a good idea since he didn’t have anything to wear while he was staying with Orihime. Once everyone had changed, Toushirou had to borrow some pajamas from one of the neighbors, Orihime and Rangiku set up a few sleeping mats and blankets on the floor. Rangiku made sure that she was sleeping in the spot next to Orihime, which left the other two spaces open for Toushirou and Mikaze to sleep next to each other. Toushirou thought that Rangiku was up to something, but then brushed it off as just normal Rangiku behavior. What Toushirou didn’t know was that Head Captain Yamamoto had asked Rangiku to keep an eye on Toushirou and Mikaze and subtly bring them together and get them to admit their feelings for each other, but what everyone else didn’t know was that Toushirou and Mikaze had already done just that. Mikaze, Rangiku and Orihime went to bed first, while Toushirou changed in the bathroom. Mikaze was falling asleep quickly until she saw Toushirou come out of the bathroom and lay down behind her. Toushirou turned his back to Mikaze; they were still keeping their relationship a secret. Rangiku and Orihime were quickly asleep and Toushirou could sense it so he rolled over to face Mikaze and moved closer to her. He pulled the girl closer to him, which caused her to wake up and turn her head to see who was grabbing her.  
“It’s just me.” Toushirou whispered.  
Mikaze turned her head back and settled against Toushirou’s body then quickly fell asleep again, a smile on her face. Toushirou rested his chin on the top of Mikaze’s head and fell asleep, a smile also gracing his lips. The two slept peacefully next to one another for the rest of the night. When Toushirou woke the next morning, Mikaze was now facing him and they were still so close to each other. The white-haired boy smiled as he looked at the love of his life and watched as she opened her beautiful light green eyes. Mikaze smiled once she opened her eyes and saw Toushirou staring back at her with a smile on his own face. The two of them remained in each other’s arms for a moment before realizing that the others would most likely wake up soon, so they got up and started getting ready for the day. This went on for days, even weeks, without Rangiku or Orihime noticing anything between the two younger Shinigami.

On quite a few shopping trips that Rangiku had insisted that they needed to take, everyone had new clothes to wear. Shiori had of course bought jeans and t-shirts to wear all the time, usually something that was plain in color, like black or white or even purple. Mikaze wanted to protest to her friend’s choice in style but realized that Shiori wouldn’t have it any other way. Rukia had gotten some more dresses, although she didn’t really need them since she usually just borrowed some from Yuzu, with the small girl’s permission of course. Renji got his normal hippy style clothing, which just made him stand out a bit more than the rest of them. Rangiku of course purchased clothing that showed off her figure and her cleavage. Toushirou and Mikaze were a bit more sensible, but still stylish. Toushirou bought things that were comfortable and that could be considered dressed up or down. Mikaze had bought a few pairs of jeans and some t-shirts and blouses, but Rukia and Rangiku had convinced the blue haired girl to get more dresses. In the words of Rangiku, the dresses would definitely attract Toushirou, which caused Mikaze to blush and hurry out of the shop with the paid for clothes. Rangiku had even convinced the other girls that they should get some jewelry and hair accessories, if they wanted. Mikaze picked up a few hair accessories, but she didn’t really ever want to take out the beads that she had received from her brother the last time she saw him alive.  
“You’ll look much less like a child if you take those pig tails out of your hair.” Rangiku said.  
“But Tensei gave me these… I promised him I’d always wear them.” Mikaze said.  
“Okay, but these accessories are going to go to waste.”  
Mikaze looked at the accessories in thought; maybe she would use them one day, but not today.

 

“What are we still doing here? We haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t seen any Hollow, at least not ones that are a large threat. The ones we have seen are easy enough to take care of with one blow.” Shiori argued.  
“We are here to investigate.” Toushirou informed.  
“Investigate what? There hasn’t been anything to investigate.” Shiori commented back.  
“We must stay here until Head Captain Yamamoto is satisfied with the information we have collected and calls us back to Seireitei.”  
Shiori sighed. She just wanted to go back home and sleep in her own bed, not that it wasn’t comfortable at Urahara’s shop; she was just more comfortable in her own bed.  
“I’m setting up another search. Matsumoto take Yamamoto with you.”  
“Yes, Captain.” Rangiku obeyed.  
“Renji and Rukia will take Ichigo with them.”  
“But then that leaves-“ Shiori was cut off.  
“That leaves Kawahone to go with me.” Toushirou said. He didn’t care anymore if everyone was getting suspicious of him and Mikaze going to investigate together, but there was just something that he had to do today.  
Toushirou had already talked to Urahara and had gotten help with putting just the slightest bit of his reiatsu into a small object that he had bought at the jewelry shop while no one else was watching him. He placed his hand into his pocket to feel for a small box to make sure it was still there and walked out the door. Rangiku turned to Mikaze, took the beads out of the younger girl’s hair and tried to fix the blue hair.  
“Hey, my beads!” Mikaze protested.  
Rangiku looked at Mikaze with an inspecting look.  
“That’ll have to do, now go get him, birthday girl.” Rangiku said, pushing Mikaze out the door.  
‘That’s right.’ Mikaze thought. ‘It’s my birthday today. I wonder if Captain Hitsugaya knows.’  
Mikaze realized that Toushirou had become so far ahead of her that she had to run to catch up to him. Toushirou led Mikaze to an old subway station to investigate Hollow activity. He reached into his pocket once more, he was just a little bit nervous. He didn’t have any idea why, he was just going to be giving Mikaze her birthday present. It wasn’t like he was asking her to marry him or anything. The young Captain turned to say something to Mikaze when he noticed that she looked different, he wound up staring at her. She looked amazing, but he couldn’t put his finger on why she looked so great. Mikaze noticed that her Captain was staring at her and started blushing.  
‘Maybe Lieutenant Matsumoto was right about my hair.’ She thought.  
“Um, you look really nice today.” Toushirou managed to finally say as he walked over to the girl he cherished deeply.  
Mikaze thought that Toushirou was going to kiss her, but he pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. The girl’s heart started to pound with nervousness and excitement. Could he possibly be asking her the “question”?  
“Happy birthday,” Toushirou said. “I hope you like it.”  
Mikaze blinked a bit out of confusion at first, but then realized what the Captain had actually said. He was giving her a birthday present, he did know. She smiled up at the boy she loved and then opened the box. She stared at the thing inside then looked back up at Toushirou.  
“I love it.” Mikaze smiled again.  
Mikaze took the small snow flake charm out of the box. Toushirou took the necklace and placed it around Mikaze’s neck, making sure the clasp wasn’t caught in her hair then stepped back to look at it.  
“It looks nice on you.” Toushirou said with a smile.  
“Thank you.”  
“Now you’ll have a piece of me wherever you go.” Toushirou kissed Mikaze tenderly on the lips.  
Mikaze felt the bit of Toushirou’s reiatsu humming from the snow flake charm that now lay on her chest.  
“Thank you, Toushirou.”  
Mikaze thought she saw something so she looked to her right and saw a little girl.  
“Oh, hello. You must be lonely down here all alone like this.” Mikaze said as she approached the little girl.  
“Do you know where my mommy is?” The little girl asked.  
Mikaze looked at the little girl sadly. “No, I don’t know where your mommy is.” Mikaze then looked at Toushirou.  
“Do the burial quickly before Hollow start showing up.” Toushirou said.  
Mikaze nodded and turned back to the little girl.  
“I’m going to send you to Soul Society. It’s very nice there. You’ll like it, I promise. You won’t be lonely anymore.” Mikaze said as she took out her sword, placing the hilt close to the little girl’s forehead.  
“Will I see my mommy there?” She asked.  
Mikaze wasn’t sure about the answer, but she said, “Yes.”  
The little girl smiled as Mikaze placed the end of her Zanpakutou on the little girl’s forehead. The little girl faded into sparkling light as a Hell Butterfly guided the spirit to Soul Society.  
“You lied to her, you know.” Toushirou said. “She probably won’t see her mom.”  
“I know. She won’t know once she gets to Soul Society though. She’ll just be born as a new baby there. She won’t be lonely at all. She’ll have a new family.” Mikaze sniffled, her eyes tearing up.  
“Mikaze?” Toushirou wondered if the blue haired girl was all right.  
Mikaze wiped her eyes before turning back to her Captain with a smile.  
“Let’s go.” Toushirou said. “Happy birthday again.”  
“Thank you.” Mikaze said.  
Toushirou took the girl’s hand in his as they walked back to Urahara’s shop.  
“Hey, how about some ice cream? On me.” Toushirou asked as they came upon an ice cream shop.  
“Sure. I’ll have…” Mikaze paused as she looked up at the menu. “Chocolate chip with strawberry on top, please.”  
“I’ll have the watermelon shaved ice.” Toushirou told the clerk. “It really is my favorite food in the entire world. Every summer, before we became Shinigami, Hinamori and I would eat watermelon practically by the cartful.”  
“Wow.” Mikaze thought she knew mostly everything about her Captain, but here he was, telling her about his past. Even Momo hadn’t told her about that and Momo had pretty much unintentionally spilled the beans on lots of things about the white-haired Captain. Mikaze knew about the friend that Toushirou had lost due to their Zanpakutou being the same, she had been in school the same time as Toushirou, although it did take her a bit longer to graduate than Toushirou’s two years. She knew that Toushirou even fought against his friend a second time, which almost caused the Seireitei and Soul Society to be completely destroyed, Mikaze had already been in Division Ten by then. Memories of school started flooding Mikaze’s mind.


	3. Memories

Mikaze sat in class, reading the text book on kidou that was assigned to the class. There was gossip in class about some first-year student with white hair, very young, possibly younger than she was. Mikaze listened to the gossip but thought they might just be rumors. One of her classmates had said that the boy had already bonded with his Zanpakutou and it had only been a few weeks for him at the academy. Mikaze surely didn’t believe this story one bit. No one had ever been that powerful in all of Soul Society history. She didn’t believe their gossip until she saw a white-haired boy once she arrived in the cafeteria at lunch time, not much younger or older than herself, with a sword strapped to his back from around his chest, the sheath a darker blue than the hilt and the guard in the shape of a four-pointed star. The rumors were true then.  
Mikaze found herself staring at the boy as he sat alone at lunch. For some reason, even just looking at him made her feel at peace. Not only did she think he was cute, there was just something about this boy that put her soul at peace, just made her relax. The lunch bell had startled Mikaze out of a trance and she noticed that the boy was gone from the lunch room. She dragged her feet to class and sighed, she’d never feel the same ever again after that experience. She felt so calm and she thought that maybe, just maybe, she would have been able to bond with her Zanpakutou at any time just then, but alas, the feeling didn’t last.

One day, the teacher had requested a joint session with one of the other classes so that the students could work on techniques against other opponents since they had all gone against each other before. As the class went outside to one of the practice fields, Mikaze saw him again, the boy with white hair. She finally got to see his eyes. They were amazing, a cold teal, like an ocean after a storm. The blue haired girl couldn’t help but stare at him and she became calm again.  
“Kawahone.”  
Mikaze was forced out of another serene moment.  
“Verses Hitsugaya.” The teacher said.  
Mikaze blinked. What was going on? Who was Hitsugaya? She looked over at the boy as he stood. No way, he couldn’t be the one. The teacher was paring them together to duel? No way! Mikaze started to panic a bit until she looked at the boy again. He was more powerful than she was since he had already bonded with his Zanpakutou. Had he already known its name? No, he most likely didn’t since he was still in the same classes she was, but then, there probably was a waiting time to be transferred into a higher class.  
“Ready?” The teacher asked.  
Mikaze unsheathed her sword and readied her stance. Hitsugaya took his stance and Mikaze noticed that it started to get a bit cold on the field. Everyone could see their breath and some of the other students started to panic, but Mikaze remained calm just by looking at Hitsugaya.  
“Begin.” The teacher commanded.  
The mock battle had begun with Hitsugaya charging at the girl and she blocked with everything she had. He truly was strong and unless she could bond with her Zanpakutou, he would over power her in the battle. Mikaze’s mind became clear and she was suddenly getting faster and faster with her own strikes. Hitsugaya looked at the girl’s face as she fought against him; she was now in her inner world, bonding with her Zanpakutou.

 

Mikaze seemed to be floating above the clouds. She wondered a bit how she was floating, but then she realized she wasn’t in the field she was just in a moment ago. She wondered where she was.  
“You are inside yourself.” A voice said from behind her.  
Mikaze turned around but saw no one behind her.  
“What are you talking about? How can I be inside myself?” Mikaze asked the air.  
A little girl who was smaller than Mikaze with reddish-brown hair and purple eyes appeared in front of Mikaze. Mikaze noticed that this girl was not a normal girl, she seemed a bit impish or fairy like with her pointed ears and small wings on her back. The girl wore a small pastel green dress with gold ribbons everywhere. Her hair was up much like Mikaze’s with green flowers at the base of each pig tail and small braids at the sides of her face.  
“I am the spirit of your sword. This world is your spiritual world or your mind.”  
Mikaze liked this girl, she was very kind and Mikaze felt calm talking to her and just being in this world.  
“I am afraid this is all that I can tell you for now. You must now return to your world.”  
Mikaze didn’t want to leave the peaceful world of her mind, but she had no choice.

 

Mikaze came back to reality and looked around the field to find Hitsugaya sitting on the ground in front of her. Mikaze blinked down at the white-haired boy as he pointed to her left side. Mikaze looked down at her left hand and saw that her sword had changed. The color of the hilt on her sword had become white in color and the guard was still round, but now had a four-pointed, flower-like design on it. Mikaze smiled as she realized what she had just done.  
“Your power is amazing, Kawahone.” The teacher told her. “That is enough for today. We will do this again tomorrow. Class is dismissed.”  
Mikaze watched Hitsugaya as he stood up and sheathed his sword then she sheathed her own newly transformed Zanpakutou. Mikaze walked off the field into the evening sun. It was almost time for dinner, but she didn’t know if she wanted to eat. She wasn’t very hungry, but she was tired, so she decided to go to her dorm room and lay down on her bed. She drifted off to sleep quickly and didn’t even hear her noisy roommates come in when it was curfew.  
That night, Mikaze dreamt of the boy with white hair and cool teal eyes.

 

The morning came quickly for the blue haired girl and she groaned as the alarm rang in her ears. Her green eyes glared at the clock next to her bed and she threw the pillow over it to shut the thing up, which didn’t work. Now she was just uncomfortable without a pillow to lie on, so she sighed and sat up, removed the pillow from the alarm clock, shut the clock off and got up. Mikaze reached for her toiletries and headed for the bathing room. A nice hot bath would wake her up and then she could be ready for the day. As she got into the hot water, it felt extremely good on her aching muscles, which she didn’t know were even sore. Her muscles hadn’t been sore the night before when she went to bed. Did even just bonding with a Zanpakutou drain so much from a person that they felt like crap the next day? Mikaze realized that she had a bit of a headache too, only just slight, but it was there nonetheless. The blue haired girl wished she could stay in the hot water all day, but she had classes to attend. Once she was somewhat satisfied with her bath, she dried off and got into her uniform. Mikaze had to put her things away and grab her Zanpakutou before heading to class.  
Once Mikaze arrived in class, she was met by the teacher who pulled her aside. The dark-haired man had told the girl that she was going to be transferring to an intermediate classes.  
“Transferring? What for?” Mikaze asked.  
“You’ve already bonded with your Zanpakutou and you’re very skilled in kidou, but you’re only being transferred to the intermediate classes.” The teacher informed.  
“Alright. That’s good, though, isn’t it?”  
“Well yes, but Hitsugaya is transferring to the advance classes.”  
Mikaze was a bit shocked. Was he really that powerful?  
“I heard it was one of the Captains that got him transferred to the advanced classes. He thinks that Hitsugaya has the potential to graduate within a shorter time than anyone else.”  
“Do you think he has the potential?”  
“I don’t know. I’m not his teacher.”  
“Do you think I have the potential to graduate within as short a time as Hitsugaya?”  
“If you were to obtain Shikai before Christmas then I would say yes.”  
“Has he even obtained Shikai?” Mikaze asked, thinking it a bit unfair to think that Hitsugaya was more powerful then she was even though neither of them had obtained the first release of their swords.  
“As far as I know, he hasn’t, but it wasn’t up to me to place him in the advanced classes.” The teacher said. “If it was up to me, I’d keep you both in beginner classes so that you could learn properly.”  
After the teacher had finished talking to Mikaze, she was escorted by another teacher to one of the intermediate classes and she saw Hitsugaya being escorted to another class as well, but he was on his way to an advanced class.

 

Christmas approached quickly and Mikaze still hadn’t obtained Shikai, every time she would go to her spirit world to talk to her Zanpakutou, something had interrupted the girl from learning the name of the sword’s spirit. Mikaze had learned that Hitsugaya had already obtained Shikai just after Christmas and that caused her to become even more determined to obtain the first release of her sword. The only thing was that when she talked to the spirit, she would tell Mikaze that she wasn’t ready to know her name yet. Mikaze didn’t understand how she wasn’t ready when she had trained like crazy for days on end, sometimes not even resting or eating. Mikaze lay down on her bed after training all day and started drifting off into sleep.  
‘I’ll catch up to you, Hitsugaya. I’d like to be near you again…’ Mikaze’s mind drifted off into thoughts of fighting alongside Hitsugaya as she fell asleep.  
Mikaze woke to the sounds of students talking outside; one of her roommates had left the window open. Since it wasn’t snowing now, the winter air was somewhat refreshing. The small girl looked out the window and noticed that fresh snow had fallen over night, covering everything in white, making everything look innocent and clean. Sure, Mikaze liked winter, but her favorite season was spring. Spring symbolized new life, and everything looked so pretty in the fresh colors of spring. Mikaze thrived in the spring weather and she felt the calmest in spring even though everything usually seemed a bit hectic.  
Mikaze watched students throwing snowballs at each other and noticed one particular student. Hitsugaya was walking to the library with another student; this student was much taller than the white-haired boy. He had black hair that was tied up a bit messily. Mikaze wanted to go to the library just even to see Hitsugaya, but she thought against it. That might make her seem like a stalker and she didn’t want the boy thinking that she was stalking him. She seemed to be infatuated with the icy boy, but how could she not be? She seemed to be in a different world just when she looked at him. Something about him just calmed her, made her feel safe, even though she didn’t know him whatsoever.  
Before winter was over, Mikaze had heard that Hitsugaya would most likely learn Bankai soon. Although it was not required to learn Bankai to graduate, it did happen on occasion. Hitsugaya had to be powerful if he had learned Shikai so soon after bonding with his Zanpakutou and Mikaze hadn’t even learned Shikai yet. She sighed in exasperation and frustration. Why wouldn’t the sword tell her its name? She wanted to graduate with Hitsugaya so that she could be near him, she didn’t want him to leave her behind.  
‘What am I thinking? He doesn’t even know who the heck I am, he probably only cares about leaving this place and finding a Division to join.’ Mikaze thought.

 

Spring was approaching, but still, Mikaze had not learned Shikai. Frustration was setting in on Mikaze’s mind and she was exhausted.  
“Stop trying to force it. Just let it happen naturally.” A voice said from beside her.  
Mikaze looked to her left side to see the white-haired boy sitting next to her. She felt like she was about to pass out from excitement but became calm again the moment he looked at her.  
“Forcing Shikai will only cause you to become fatigued, which you obviously are. You should go rest while it’s spring break.” Hitsugaya said before taking a bite of food.  
Mikaze started blushing suddenly, her cheeks looking very red due to her skin being so pale from fatigue. He was talking to her, giving her advice on how to obtain Shikai. She nodded at Hitsugaya, took a few more bites of food, got up and went to her room and slept for two days. Her roommates started to worry, but when she woke up, she was a little bit more cheerful and was a lot more rested. Her face had gained its normal, healthy color again.  
Mikaze went to meditate to find her piece of mind. Once she was in her inner world, she saw the spirit of her Zanpakutou.  
“You look much better today.” The little fairy-like girl said.  
“I feel much better.” Mikaze stated.  
“You are ready to hear my name.”  
Mikaze looked at the tiny girl and smiled. “It’s all thanks to a friend that I’ve relaxed.”  
“Yes. He might even have been your savor. From now on, you will know my name, Hikari no Ten’yo.”  
“Hikari no Ten’yo.” Mikaze repeated.  
The tiny girl nodded. Mikaze opened her eyes and smiled. She had just learned the name of her Zanpakutou, which meant that she could now use Shikai.  
Mikaze saw Hitsugaya once more in the lunch room before graduation and then he was gone, but Mikaze was more determined than ever to obtain Bankai, but she kept his advice in her memory. The blue haired girl didn’t force her Bankai; she just let it come naturally to her, which was a huge improvement.

 

Mikaze came back to reality and smiled.  
“Remember what you told me during spring break back at the academy?” Mikaze asked.  
“About your Shikai?” Toushirou asked.  
“Yeah.” Mikaze nodded.  
“Forcing Shikai will only cause you to become fatigued.” Toushirou said.  
Mikaze looked over at Toushirou with a smile on her face. “After you told me that, my skills improved greatly. That summer I learned the name of my Zanpakutou, gaining Shikai. They enrolled me in advanced classes the next year when I had proven to them that I had indeed obtained Shikai. During winter of my last year, on your birthday actually, I learned Bankai. At the time I told myself that that was a present to you to say thank you for helping me. That fourth year I was at the academy, I graduated with Shikai and Bankai. All my teachers thought that I should have taken the Captaincy test, but I didn’t want to. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I wanted to be near you and since I found out that you had already become the Captain of Division Ten, I wanted to go there.”  
Toushirou smiled back at Mikaze. “I only told you that because I liked you and I wanted to see you succeed. I was hoping that it would have caused you to graduate with me, but you weren’t ready until you were ready.”  
“I’m glad you gave me that advice. I don’t think I would have obtained Shikai when I did if you hadn’t. I might have killed myself trying to learn the name of my sword.”  
“I’m glad too.” Toushirou said as he kissed the girl in front of him. “Let’s go back.”  
“Yeah.” Mikaze agreed.  
The two of them smiled as they returned to Urahara’s shop with the news of the little girl’s soul sent to Soul Society and no Hollow attacks. Urahara looked at the two young Shinigami and noticed that they were both very content. He also noticed the small snow flake charm that dangled from Mikaze’s neck and smiled.  
‘Good, he gave it to her. Now all he has to do is give her the other thing.’ Urahara thought.  
“What’s going on with you two? Is there something going on that you’re not telling me, Captain?” Rangiku asked.  
“There’s nothing going on between us. I am simply helping Kawahone become familiar with the material world.” Toushirou said, annoyed at his Lieutenant for prying.  
Rangiku pouted, her planning was going nowhere with the two. She was trying to help them get together and she was failing miserably. Shiori knew on the other hand that there was in fact something going on between the white-haired Captain and her blue haired friend. Shiori pulled Mikaze outside to the back of the shop.  
“Toushirou gave that to you, didn’t he?” Shiori asked pointing to the necklace that Mikaze now wore.  
“Um, no, I bought it when we were out. I really liked it, so I bought it at a jewelry shop that we were passing.” Mikaze responded quickly.  
“Right.” Shiroi answered in disbelief. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on here, Mikaze. I know there’s something going on between the two of you. You can’t hide it from me, ya know. I’ve been your friend since we graduated and came to the Gotei 13.” Shiori looked Mikaze straight in the eyes. “You can’t lie to me, Mikaze.”  
Mikaze sighed and looked away. “All right, you got me.”  
Shiori smiled. “So, what’s been going on between you two?”  
“Not a lot really. He just kisses me sometimes.” Mikaze smiled. “He’s so sweet and he’s not as cold as he acts.”  
“I’ve seen the way he acts around you, the way he treats you. Hell, even though he gets mad at Rangiku, he still cares about her and he wouldn’t want anything bad happening to her. He cares for a lot of people and I can see through his iciness.”  
Mikaze quickly realized that she had just told her best friend that she and her Captain were in a relationship. “You better not say anything to anyone about what I told you.”  
“Don’t worry; I won’t say a word to anyone.” Shiori left out what she was thinking. ‘Yet.’  
“Thank you, Shiori.” Mikaze said. “I love Toushirou so much.”  
“I knew that already.” Shiori said.  
“How?”  
“I’m your best friend remember? I can read you like a book.”  
Mikaze sighed as she remembered the first time she met Shiori.

 

It was a beautiful day, such a nice day that the teacher took the class outside to practice kidou.  
“Hiya!” A cheery voice said from behind Mikaze.  
Mikaze turned around to see a taller girl with purple hair and eyes behind her. “Um, hi?”  
“So, you must be Mikaze Kawahone. My name is Shiori Noriko. It’s nice to meet you.”  
“Likewise.” Mikaze said as the girl she now knew as Shiori patted her on the shoulder. Shiori was the first person, besides Toushirou, to not just stare at her and whisper things behind her back. Mostly it was about her hair and eye color since her personality, even as shy as she was, was sunny and warm.  
Mikaze and Shiori had spent the rest of the year together. The two would enjoy each other’s company when they weren’t in classes. Shiori enjoyed sneaking up on Mikaze to scare the living daylights out of the small girl. Before they knew it, graduation had finally come. Along with Division recruitment fliers, Mikaze and Shiori had received the robes of the Shinigami, the shihakusho. Seeing as how Mikaze didn’t really have any friends other than Shiori while she was at the academy she felt somewhat small in the large place, surrounded by so many other people. Had there really been so many other students? Mikaze didn’t know who she was standing next to since they had been told to line up in alphabetical order by last name. Shiori wasn’t too far behind Mikaze, but they were far enough away from one another that they couldn’t even talk; they couldn’t even see each other very well. Each of them was instructed to find the person with the same symbol of the cards they were given. Fortunately for Mikaze, Shiori had the same symbol that she did. Each team was sent on a specific mission which would have them going to the human world for a long period of time. The two didn’t know where they were going or doing, but they went anyway.  
Once the two girls were out in the human world, they spent some time looking for a place to make camp.  
“So, do you know what Division you’re gonna join?” Shiori asked the shorter girl.  
“Not yet.” Mikaze responded.  
“You should come with me. I’m planning on going into the Division One.” Shiori said.

Some years later, Shiori and Mikaze had finished their mission in the human world and were on their way home, to the Seireitei. The two were escorted back by another Shinigami and then Mikaze saw him, the white-haired boy from school, Toushirou Hitsugaya, but there was something different about him. What was that extra white coat looking thing he was wearing? Shiori found Mikaze staring at the white-haired boy.  
“That’s Toushirou Hitsugaya.” Shiori said.  
“What is that extra white piece of clothing he’s wearing?” Mikaze asked.  
“That means he’s a captain.”  
“Eh?! Captain?!” Mikaze said.  
“Yeah, he received the title not long after he arrived in Seireitei. He’s pretty powerful and his Bankai is amazing.”  
Bankai? He had reached Bankai already? Of course he had. He was pretty powerful. Mikaze felt a bit pathetic compared to Toushirou.  
“Looks like you’re interested in him.” Shiori said.  
Mikaze blushed. “What are you talking about?”  
“You’re staring at him.”  
“It’s just that… I kind of knew him back at the academy. We were first years at the same time and I actually bonded with my Zanpakutou because of him. The only thing is that I took longer than him to graduate. He graduated a year before me.”  
“Damn, he became Captain this quickly after graduating and he had graduated before you. That’s major power.” Shiori said.  
“I want to be in the Tenth Division.” Mikaze said, still watching the white-haired Captain as he walked.  
“Well, when they go and ask you where you want to be placed, you can tell them then.” Shiori explained. “And you’re next in line.”  
Mikaze was nervous now. She really wanted to be in Division Ten, but would they ask her why? If they did, she didn’t know the answer.  
“Next please.”  
Mikaze stepped up to the woman and looked up at her. She wore the normal shihakusho, glasses, and her hair was up in a sort of up sweep kept in place by a clip.  
“Division placement?” The woman asked.  
“Um, I would like to be in Division Ten.” Mikaze responded.  
The woman looked at the Division rosters, looked back at Mikaze and said, “Very well, please follow Lieutenant Matsumoto.”  
“Thank you.” Mikaze said with a bow and looked back at Shiori who gave her thumbs up and followed another woman with large breasts and strawberry blonde hair.  
“Hi there, I’m Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant for Division Ten. What’s your name?”  
“Mikaze Kawahone.”  
“Well, you’ll be the youngest member of the division besides Captain Hitsugaya.” Rangiku said.  
“Really?” Mikaze asked.  
“Yeah. Oh, did you know that he became captain only a short time after graduating from the academy? Amazing, huh?” Rangiku said.  
“Yeah, really amazing.” Mikaze responded as she followed Rangiku.  
“When did you start at the academy? They usually don’t take people before a certain age since most kids don’t start to show signs of strong reiatsu until they’re a bit older.”  
“I only started a few years ago.” Mikaze said.  
“Really? Did you go to school with the Captain?” Rangiku asked.  
“Well, I suppose we were there at the same time, but I didn’t really know him.” Mikaze said. She didn’t really know him personally, she had only dueled with him and he had given her some good advice before he graduated, but other than that, she hadn’t known anything about him except for his name.  
“You’ll like it in our division. Captain isn’t usually too strict about anything; he’s just a bit of a pain sometimes.”  
“Who are you calling a pain, Matsumoto?” A voice said from behind Rangiku.  
“Ah, Captain! We have a new member to the division.” Rangiku said.  
Toushirou looked at the girl next to his Lieutenant and was a bit shocked. He hadn’t seen the girl in what seemed like a long time.  
“Welcome to Division Ten.” Captain Hitsugaya said.  
“Thank you.” Mikaze said with a bow.

 

“Hiya!” Shiori said from behind Mikaze.  
“Why do you like to sneak up on me so much?” Mikaze asked.  
“It amuses me. So, how do you like it in Division Ten?” Shiori asked.  
“It’s fine. Lieutenant Matsumoto is a bit strange, but I like it.” Mikaze said.  
“You mean you like the Captain.” Shiori said.  
“Wh-what? No!” Mikaze said as she blushed.  
“It’s written all over your face. I can read you like a book.” Shiori said as she smiled. “How long have we been friends? You’re lucky. I don’t have many friends, although everyone seems to say they like me. Not many of them really do like me.”  
“Really?” Mikaze asked, trying not to sound like she was prying. “Where did you grow up?”  
“I grew up here in the Seireitei. I’m the granddaughter of the Head Captain.” Shiori said. “But don’t let that stop you from being my friend or make you think that you have to be my friend just spare my feelings or anything.”  
“You’re the granddaughter of the Head Captain? Why didn’t you ever tell me? I should have been addressing you more formally.” Mikaze said as she bowed. “Miss Shiori.”  
“Oh, stop it. You don’t have to be so formal with me. Just keep calling me Shiori as usual. Really, I don’t mind.” Shiori said and she tried to get Mikaze to stand up. “Stop it, people are staring.”  
Mikaze stood up and looked up at Shiori. “Sorry, I’m just used to be formal. My family isn’t very formal, but at school I guess I got used to it.”  
“What’s your family like?” Shiori asked.  
“Well, I have lots of brothers and sisters and being a big family and the smallest of nine children, although not the youngest, and having a twin brother, my parents never paid much attention to me.” Mikaze said.  
“That’s terrible. Your parents didn’t pay attention to you?” Shiori was shocked.  
“No, but I had my brother. Oh, I went to see him the last time we could leave to visit family and he gave these hair beads.”  
Shiori examined the beads in Mikaze’s hair. “I’ve wondered about those. They’re very nice. He must have loved you a lot.”  
“Yeah, Tensei always looked out for me and protected me. None of the other family had shown any signs of having reiatsu though. Tensei said that our parents didn’t even know I was gone.” Mikaze said, a bit sadly.  
“I’m sorry.”  
Mikaze shook her head. “Please don’t be sorry for me. That’s the way I grew up and I dealt with it. I’m here now and that’s all that matters to me.” Mikaze said, looking a bit more positive.  
“Hey! We should go see your family. You can introduce me to them and everything.” Shiori said.  
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Mikaze smiled at her new friend and Shiori smiled back.

 

Mikaze and Shiori made their way to the fifth district of Rukongai to visit Mikaze’s family. Shiori gasped in shock as she saw a house in shambles and turned to Mikaze.  
“Is this your house?” Shiori asked.  
Mikaze stared at the crumbled house in shock. As she looked around at the rubble for signs of life, she saw her twin brother lying on the ground near a pile of wood.  
“Brother!” Mikaze screamed as she ran to his body. “Brother! Tensei! Wake up. Please wake up.”  
The boy stirred slightly and opened his eyes only a crack.  
“Brother.” Mikaze smiled.  
“Kaze?”  
“Yeah, it’s me brother. What happened?” Mikaze asked, tears in her eyes.  
“A freak storm… I think… Hey… you became a Shinigami. That’s great.” Tensei smiled at his sister. “I’m proud of you, Kaze and know that I love you.” Tensei closed his eyes again. “I’m so tired.”  
“Tensei, don’t fall asleep. Please wake up.” Mikaze started crying as she realized that her brother had just taken his last breath and died in her arms.  
Mikaze held her brother close to her as she cried.  
“Brother…”  
Shiori touched Mikaze’s shoulder as they watched as Tensei’s body disappeared in sparkles.  
“He will be reborn as a human child now.” Shiori said.  
Mikaze nodded solemnly and stood up. Shiori walked in silence next to her friend back to the Seireitei. Mikaze had no family left in Soul Society; all she had now was the Seireitei and the Shinigami.

 

Mikaze cried a little at the memory of her dead brother and remembering when he died in her arms. Shiori hugged Mikaze.  
“Sorry, I just remembered when we went to see my family and that was also when Tensei died…” Mikaze said.  
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to make you remember that.” Shiori said.  
“It’s okay.” Mikaze said as she wiped the tears away. “It’s good to remember loved ones, even if it is sad.”  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Although, I don’t think of my parents nearly as much as I should, but then again, grandfather raised me for quite a long time.”  
Shiori let go of her friend and they walked back inside, with everyone staring at them.  
“What?” Shiori asked. “I had to talk to Mikaze to clarify something.”  
Mikaze sat down next to Rukia, not noticing that the white-haired Captain was watching her the whole time. Shiori was the only one, besides Urahara, to notice that Toushirou was staring at Mikaze the minute she walked back through the door and sat down.  
“So, did anyone else find anything interesting today?” Urahara asked.  
“Nothing really.” Rangiku said.  
“Same goes for us.” Renji said.  
“So, no Hollow attacks.” Urahara said. “Interesting. There haven’t been too many Hollow attacks lately, but there have been quite a few souls roaming.”  
“Do you think it could be the work of Aizen?” Toushirou asked.  
“It could be, but I don’t think so. Aizen is much more cunning than to make us think that he’s planning something as simple as this.” Urahara answered.  
“Besides, he’s been defeated.” Renji said.  
“We know that it seems that he’s been defeated, but he’s cunning.” Toushirou said.  
Everyone was silent in thought, but no one could think of anything.  
“We better eat while the food is still hot.” Urahara suddenly said.  
“But Tessai just brought it all out here.” Rukia said.  
“Yes, therefore we should eat while it’s still hot.” Urahara answered.  
Everyone served themselves some food and ate with a bit of light conversation. After dinner, Rangiku asked Mikaze to join her in the other room for a drink. Mikaze didn’t know exactly what her Lieutenant meant, but she joined the blonde in the other room.


	4. Silence

“Come on. Drink it.” Rangiku said.  
“What is it?” Mikaze asked.  
“Oh, it’s just a little something to get you to open up and relax.” Rangiku answered.  
“But what is it?”  
“Just drink it. You’ll be fine. I promise.”  
Mikaze looked at Rangiku questioningly and drank the contents of the cup.  
“Oh, geez! This is horrible!” Mikaze shouted.  
“Have some more.” Rangiku said.  
“No way, it’s terrible.”  
“Please?” Rangiku begged.  
“No, it’s awful stuff. What is this stuff?”  
“It’s sake.” Rangiku said as she poured more into Mikaze’s cup and forced the girl to drink.  
Rangiku gave Mikaze more until the younger girl’s cheeks were red and her eyes were glassy. Toushirou had entered the room to find the two girls drunk and laughing.  
“Kawahone? What the hell?” Toushirou asked.  
“Captain! Come have a drink with us.” Rangiku said.  
“Matsumoto, what have you done to Kawahone?”  
“I just gave her something to drink. She’s fine.” Rangiku said, waving her hand in the Captain’s face.  
Toushirou looked at the blue haired girl and she giggled at him. “She’s drunk.” He looked at Rangiku and the bottle in her hand. “You gave her sake? Matsumoto!”  
“Ah, c’mon Shirou.” Mikaze hiccupped and giggled. “Don’t yell at Rangiku.” She hiccupped again. “She just wanted me to have fun.”  
“Are you having fun?” Toushirou asked.  
Mikaze screwed up her face in thought and then smiled widely at the Captain. “Yeah, I am.”  
Toushirou sighed. “I think you should go to bed and sleep this off.” Toushirou said as he started to pull the small girl by the hand.  
Mikaze pouted. “You’re no fun. Why are you so serious around everyone? Why can’t you just open up like you do when you’re with me? Come on, Toushirou, say what you’re feeling in front of the others.”  
Toushirou thought for a moment. Mikaze was somewhat right, even in her drunken stupor that Rangiku had gotten her into.  
“I don’t want to hide it anymore.” Mikaze seemed to sober up a little. “I love you, Toushirou!” Mikaze shouted.  
“Mikaze, I…” Toushirou looked away from the girl. “You’re drunk. Let’s get you to bed.” He dragged the blue haired girl by the hand and took her back to Orihime’s place.  
Mikaze started getting dizzy and fell to her knees, causing Toushirou to stop in his tracks.  
“Are you alright?” Toushirou asked.  
“I feel dizzy…” Mikaze answered. “I don’t feel so good…”  
Toushirou helped Mikaze get on his back and walked with her like that until they got to Orihime’s place. Mikaze closed her eyes for what seemed like a moment and was lost to sleep. Toushirou gave the blue haired girl a small smile when he heard slight snoring coming from behind him.  
“What happened to her?” Orihime asked.  
“Matsumoto gave her sake and passed out drunk.” Toushirou explained.  
“Oh. Let me help you.” Orihime helped Toushirou bring Mikaze into the small apartment.  
Orihime changed the smaller girl into pajamas and helped Toushirou get her into bed.  
Toushirou watched Mikaze sleep for a short time, she looked so peaceful and maybe she would forget this whole fiasco by morning.  
Toushirou decided to go for a walk to clear his mind. There was no doubt that he cared deeply for the blue haired, green eyed girl, but confessing his love to her in front of everyone just yet was out of the question. He was a bit taken aback when she had confessed to him, but he knew that she was drunk and that, even though she probably meant the words, it was probably artificial confidence.

Mikaze woke in the morning to the sun on her face, a pounding head and a queasy stomach, she groaned as she placed the blanket over her head so that the light would go away. She also heard the voice of her Captain, but she didn’t really care what he was saying or who he was talking to. Mikaze had remembered some of what happened the night before and it made her a bit perturbed at the boy. She had admitted her feelings to him in front of Rangiku and he couldn’t even look her in the eyes. Sure, he took her “home” and got her to bed safely, but she was tired of hiding their feelings from everyone. Although, Mikaze did understand why Toushirou wanted to hide everything from everyone, she was still mad at him.  
“Are you finally awake, Mikaze?” Orihime’s voice came through the blanket.  
“I wish I wasn’t…” Mikaze said.  
“I’ll be right back.” Orihime said and was back before Mikaze took the blanket away from her face. “Take this.”  
Mikaze took what Orihime offered; two small pills and a glass of water.  
“Thank you.” Mikaze said before slowly getting up and sighing to ease her stomach.  
“You should eat something, too.” Orihime suggested.  
Mikaze had a look of being sick on her face.  
“At least some toast.”  
Mikaze nodded and followed Orihime into the kitchen where she saw her Captain sitting at the small table, but she quickly looked away and back to Orihime while the toast was being made.  
Toushirou was perplexed. Did Mikaze just give him a dirty look then look away? Was she mad at him for something? Surely, he thought that she would have forgotten what had happened the night before, but it seemed like she might not have forgotten everything.  
Mikaze ate slowly as to not become sick, which made her feel better, and after eating she quickly left the kitchen to get dressed.

“We’ll be back tonight, Inoue.” Toushirou said.  
“Okay, Toushirou.” Orihime said.  
Toushirou and Mikaze went out the door and walked down the stairs, Toushirou behind Mikaze. The two walked in silence to Urahara’s shop, which bothered Toushirou greatly. The two usually talked and even stopped a few times, they would even hold hands when they walked to the shop when they were alone. Mikaze was angry with him and he wanted to find out why, but by the time he went to ask the girl, they were already at the shop.  
“G’morning!” Shiori greeted the two as they came up to the shop.  
“Good morning.” Mikaze greeted her friend as she sat down at the table.  
“Today, everyone is going out to investigate again.” Urahara started to dictate.  
“Can we change teams this time?” Mikaze asked.  
Toushirou was surprised at Mikaze’s question.  
“Why? Whatever for?” Urahara asked.  
“I feel that we should just change the teams a bit.” Mikaze answered.  
“Oh, well, I suppose so. Who would you suggest team up?”  
“I want to go with Shiori.” Mikaze suggested.  
‘She is angry with me.’ Toushirou thought. ‘And now she’s not even talking to me.’  
“I suppose we can do that. Matsumoto, would you mind going with Hitsugaya?” Urahara asked.  
“I don’t mind at all.” Rangiku answered.  
The three teams set out to investigate Karakura Town, Shiori and Mikaze were the first to leave.

Mikaze walked next to her friend and sighed. Being angry at someone took a lot of work.  
“So, what’s wrong?” Shiori asked her little friend.  
“Nothing’s wrong.” Mikaze said.  
“You’re not very good at lying, Kaze.”  
Mikaze sighed again as the two girls came up on an old building.  
“I told him that I love him last night and he couldn’t even look me in the eyes. I know I was drunk thanks to Lieutenant Matsumoto, but my feelings for him are real. He can’t even admit his feelings for me in front of the Lieutenant. I understand why he wants to keep it a secret, but who is she going to tell?” Mikaze looked at her friend who had a look of “yeah right” on her face.  
“Okay, maybe you’re right. She’d probably get drunk and spill the beans to all of Seireitei.” Mikaze sighed. “I’m just tired of hiding from everyone. I know Renji and Rukia would never say anything to anyone about it.”  
“Well, guys don’t understand us girls most of the time and they can’t read our minds. Besides, he did take you back to Orihime’s place so that you could rest.” Shiori explained to Mikaze.  
“Yeah, I know, but it’s so frustrating to hide. Sure, I like the intimate moments that we’ve had, but we should be able to hold hands whenever the heck we want.” Mikaze was ranting now.  
“Calm down there, you don’t need to get worked up about it.” Shiori said, calming down her friend.  
“I’m sorry. I suppose this is one thing that I’m really passionate about.” Mikaze said.  
“Of course you are, its love.” Shiori smiled at her friend.

“Captain, what’s the matter?” Rangiku asked as she and her Captain investigated the streets of Karakura.  
“It’s nothing.” Toushirou responded.  
“Aw, please tell me. I’m your Lieutenant and you don’t ever tell me anything.”  
“Because you’ll probably get drunk and blab to all of Seireitei what I tell you.”  
“I would never do such a thing.” Rangiku defended herself.  
Toushirou rolled his eyes.  
“It’s Kawahone, isn’t it? She seemed to be mad at you for some reason.” Rangiku could be observant when she wanted to be.  
“It’s nothing. Just drop it.” Toushirou said angrily.  
“You’re such a spoil sport.” Rangiku pouted.  
Toushirou couldn’t believe it, Mikaze was angry with him. This whole time he thought that they had an understanding about keeping their love secret from everyone else. Toushirou figured that Shiori had known since the two girls were best friends and the fact that Shiori could read Mikaze like a book was any wonder that Mikaze could keep anything secret from the older girl. Toushirou also knew that if he let her, Rangiku would bug him about the matter until he told her, but he wouldn’t spill any information, especially to his Lieutenant. At least Toushirou noticed that Mikaze was still wearing the snowflake charm that he had given her on her birthday, so she couldn’t be that mad at him. Toushirou and Rangiku continued to investigate the streets of Karakura when something in a shop window caught Rangiku’s eye.  
“I’ll just be a moment, Captain.” Rangiku said as she entered the store.  
“Matsumoto, we don’t have time to be shopping.” Toushirou said.  
“But this will be perfect for Mikaze. A late birthday present, I think.”  
Toushirou sighed and looked at what Rangiku was buying for the blue haired girl; it was a pair of small red flower clips.  
“She can wear these instead of the beads if she wants.” Rangiku said.  
Toushirou imagined the blue haired girl wearing them and felt a bit flustered at the thought. Rangiku bought the clips along with a small gift bag to put them into to give to the small girl.  
“Do you think she’ll like them, Captain?” Rangiku asked.  
“I suppose.” Toushirou said, a bit distractedly.  
“Maybe you should talk to her and ask her why she’s mad at you.” Rangiku suggested.  
“I already know why so I don’t need to ask her.” Toushirou said.  
“I see. Does it have something to do with you and her?”  
“Matsumoto mind your own business.” Toushirou said.

Shiori heard the phone in her pocket beep and she took it out to look at the screen.  
“There’s a Hollow nearby and it’s closing in fast.”  
“I can feel it.” Mikaze said as she put her hand in her pocket.  
The two girls looked at each other and nodded. Taking their little candy dispensers out of their pockets, each girl popped what looked like a small candy into their mouths, causing their souls to separate from the gigai.  
“Go back to Urahara’s shop!” Shiori told the two gigai right before she used shunpo to close in on the Hollow.  
Mikaze quickly followed Shiori as best she could since her shunpo was quite a bit slower than the taller girl’s. Shiori jumped from building to building until the Hollow was close enough to spot. Mikaze came up just behind her as she landed on the top of a higher building, both watching on as the Hollow came closer.  
“Should we inform the others?” Mikaze asked, still looking toward the Hollow, her hair blowing in the breeze.  
“Inform Captain Hitsugaya of our location so that he knows where the Hollow is attacking. If the situation gets any worse, then we’ll call for back up. Understand?” Shiori instructed.  
“Yeah.” Mikaze said as she took her phone out of her pocket and notified her Captain of the co-ordinance of the Hollow’s location. Mikaze decided against calling the Captain, but she sent him a quick text message.  
“Get ready, it’s coming.” Shiori said as she took her stance, taking her sword out of its sheath.  
Mikaze placed her phone back into her pocket then placed her left hand on the hilt of her sword, ready at any second to draw it from its sheath that rested on her right hip.  
The Hollow sensed two strong reiatsu close by which caused it to turn its head in their direction. The thing started moving toward the two girls, its body a mass of dark grey muscles, red zigzag markings going down the length of both of its arms. Its face was a bleached white bone mask with a horn sticking out from the forehead. In its chest rested the hole that every Hollow had. The Hollow opened its mouth with a roar, red energy started to gather in a ball at the center of the open mouth.  
“It’s going to use Cero on us.” Shiori said.  
This was the first time that Mikaze has really seen a Cero being used with her own eyes. Most of the Cero she had seen were in pictures while at the Shinou Academy. Shiori jumped into the hair in plenty of time for the Cero not to hit her, Mikaze on the other hand had just barely dodged out of the way, the Cero grazing her bangs just slightly. Mikaze looked at her now singed bangs and huffed, an angry look on her face.  
“Stupid thing singed my bangs!” Mikaze shouted.  
“You should have dodged faster.” Shiori suggested.  
Shiori looked toward the Hollow as it used its clawed right hand to swipe at her, but Shiori blocked with her sword just in time to not get hit by the razor-sharp nails.  
Mikaze placed her hands out in front of her chest and started to say an incantation.  
“Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadou number 31! Shakkahou!” A crimson sphere developed in the palm of Mikaze’s hand, growing larger until it shot out, hitting the Hollow in the side of the head.  
The Hollow screamed in pain as it brought its left hand down on Mikaze, who back flipped out of the way. The Hollow swung at Mikaze again from the right side of her. Mikaze had just barely blocked the Hollow’s hand, swinging her sword to slice the palm open causing the Hollow to scream out in pain, removing its hand from near Mikaze.  
Mikaze screamed out in pain as one of the Hollow’s rather large nails was removed from her upper arm, a massive amount of blood trailed down Mikaze’s now useless right arm.  
“Shiori!” Mikaze shouted to the purple haired girl who was now behind the Hollow, ready to strike.  
Shiori brought her sword down on the Hollow’s head from behind, splitting the mask in half, causing the Hollow to shriek once more before disappearing into spirit particles.  
Shiori landed next to her friend and examined Mikaze’s right arm.  
“That’s a pretty bad wound there and you don’t look so great.” Shiori stated as she examined her smaller friend’s face.  
Mikaze’s face was turning pale due to all the blood loss and she smiled weakly up at her friend. Shiori took Mikaze by her good arm after they both sheathed their swords and tried to prop the shorter girl up.  
“This isn’t working. You’re going to have to get on my back.” Shiori suggested as she knelt on the ground for Mikaze to climb onto her back.  
Once Mikaze was settled on Shiori’s back, the purple haired girl used shunpo to get back to Urahara’s shop as quickly as possible. Mikaze felt as if she would pass out at any moment, but she had to be strong. Other Shinigami had suffered far worse injuries and had not even passed out from it. Shiori sent out a message to the others from her cell phone to have them all come back to the shop quickly. Mikaze wanted to protest contacting the others, but she was too weak and relaxed against her friend’s back. Once Shiori arrived at Urahara’s shop, she helped Mikaze get off from her back and the small girl crumpled to her knees under her own weight.  
Toushirou appeared instantly in front of the shop and kept running toward the fallen girl, stopping when he reached her. He bent down on her right side to look at her arm, worry painted his entire face.  
“Why didn’t you call me for back up?” Toushirou asked.  
“We didn’t need back up from you.” Mikaze’s tone was a bit venomous.  
Toushirou was taken aback by Mikaze’s tone with him. Even if she was angry with him, she didn’t have to sound like that. Mikaze was really holding a grudge against the white-haired boy for his actions, or lack thereof. Toushirou stood up from his place by Mikaze and let Tessai take the small girl in his arms and into another room.  
Mikaze looked very small in Tessai’s large, muscular arms as he carried the blue haired girl to one of the back rooms to tend to the massive wound on her right arm. Tessai placed Mikaze on a small sleeping mat, placed his hands gently over the girl’s eyes and told her to sleep, which she did quickly. As soon as the blue haired girl was asleep, Rukia called Orihime to come over to the shop to help patch up Mikaze’s arm. Orihime arrived quicker than expected, along with Ichigo, and went into the back room where Tessai was watching over Mikaze. Orihime knelt next to Mikaze and as she placed her hands out in front of her, a transparent, orange, oval shaped barrier surrounded Mikaze’s body. The wound started to heal immediately, the fibers of tissue fusing back together as if they hadn’t just been ripped apart by a Hollow.  
Toushirou stood outside in the back of the shop, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and his hands inside his sleeves, sadness, hurt and worry on his face.  
“Did she mention anything about me?” Toushirou asked the tall, purple haired girl as she came out the door to stand next to him.  
Shiori turned and looked down at the small Captain with a bit of worry in her violet eyes.  
“She did actually.” Shiori said.  
Toushirou closed his eyes and sighed as he moved away from the wall, walking a little way into the yard. “I should have known she would tell you everything.”  
“She didn’t tell me any details, but you know she’s hurt that you won’t let everyone else in on your secret.”  
Toushirou didn’t turn around to look back at Shiori but sighed again. “You wouldn’t understand.”  
“What wouldn’t I understand?” Shiori walked over to Toushirou, took him by the shoulders and stared him dead in the face. “You love her, she loves you, right? So, just tell her damn it! What’s so wrong with everyone knowing that you love someone? We all already know that the two of you are in love with each other. It’s just a matter of you two actually getting over whatever is wrong with you and becoming a couple.”  
Toushirou sighed once more and shrugged Shiori’s hands away then he turned around to walk back inside but stopped just before he reached the doorway.  
“You don’t understand the complications of us being in a relationship. If she were with me, all I’d think about is her and her safety, not the Division and my duties as a Captain. I couldn’t bare it if anything happened to her, but at the same time I have a responsibility to my Division. I should never have kissed her the first night we were here.” Toushirou said as he stepped back inside to find Mikaze standing just inside the door looking as if she was about to cry.  
“Mikaze… You’re awake. How do you feel?” Toushirou asked.  
Tears filled the light green orbs as Mikaze turned and ran out the front door, using shunpo to escape the shop faster.  
“Damn.” Toushirou cursed himself and mentally kicked himself for saying such a thing without knowing who was listening. He didn’t really mean the words, but he did have a responsibility to his Division and he couldn’t just focus on the blue haired girl, even if he did love her with his whole being. Love was a very confusing emotion, especially for the white-haired boy.  
“I’ll go find her and talk to her. I’ll try to at least get her back here and then maybe you two can talk.” Shiori said just before she used shunpo to chase after her small friend. How hard would it be to find a short, blue haired girl wearing black Shinigami robes?  
It didn’t take Shiori long to find the small girl, who was sitting on a swing in the park, crying her little eyes out. The taller girl walked over to her friend and placed a hand on the small girl’s shoulder, which caused the girl to get up quickly and bury her face in Shiori’s stomach. Shiori put her arms around her small friend and just let the little girl cry all she wanted. Her heart had just been broken after all; Shiori would probably have done the same thing if she were in Mikaze’s shoes. Love really was a confusing emotion, for everyone that it affected. Love was also a hard emotion that taught valuable life lessons, but Shiori wished that Mikaze didn’t have to endure this kind of heart ache.  
Mikaze sobbed into Shiori as the taller girl patted her head gently, causing Shiori’s kosode to soak through slightly. She couldn’t stop the tears no matter what she tried. She tried to stop thinking of Toushirou’s words, but the more she tried to stop the more she thought of them and the more she cried. She tried to not think of Toushirou at all, which caused the small girl to cry harder. As much as it hurt, she loved her Captain with all of her being and her heart ached whenever she heard the words ring in her ears. Mikaze sniffled as she stopped her sobs and moved away from Shiori, wiping her tears from her sad, green eyes.  
“He didn’t mean what he said about the kiss. He really cares about you, but he’s a Captain.” Shiori explained.  
“I know. I heard every word he said.” Mikaze looked as if she were about to cry again. “He must feel that way if he said that and it hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”  
“He wants to talk to you so let’s get back before it gets too late.” Shiori suggested to her friend.  
Mikaze’s phone started beeping suddenly so she took the small gray flip phone from her pocket and opened it to look at the screen.  
“There’s a Hollow! It’s near the elementary school.” Mikaze said as she looked up at her friend. “Wait, there are multiple Hollow surrounding the school.”  
“We should notify-“  
“There’s no time!” Mikaze shouted, cutting Shiori off mid-sentence. Mikaze used shunpo to get to the elementary school as quick as possible.  
Shiori called Toushirou to report the Hollow attack and started using her own shunpo to follow Mikaze.  
“Captain Hitsugaya, there is a multiple Hollow attack going on at the elementary school. ETA is one minute.” Shiori informed the Captain.  
“We’re on our way.” Toushirou said before hanging up the phone.  
Shiori stopped just in time to see the smaller girl struggling to fight a large, red and gold Hollow.  
“Hadou number 31! Shakkahou!” Mikaze shouted as she tried to blast the Hollow away from her which only caused the thing to shriek out at the tiny girl.  
Shiori joined in the battle, fighting a big blue and yellow Hollow.  
“Kogeru, Asayake.” Shiori’s Zanpakutou started to change; it now looked more like a large machete and it started to glow a bright red-orange color, like the morning sun. The moment the blade touched any object it would burst into flames.  
“Sasu, Hikari no Ten’yo.” Mikaze started twirling her sword in her hand, which turned into a pure while medieval looking staff with the top of the staff glowing on the inside as if starlight were encased inside. The staff was much taller than Mikaze, but she seemed to be an expert in handling the thing. Mikaze set her staff into the ground, placed her hands on the staff at chest level and concentrated her reiatsu, causing the light inside the staff to glow brighter.  
“Zaiten Butsu!” Mikaze shouted as light shot up into the sky, then pillars of light rained down on the Hollow from the heavens, killing at least half of the Hollow on impact.  
“Nagareboshi.” Shiroi said, causing heat to gather into the blade of her Zanpakutou, making it possible for fiery projectiles to be thrown at the Hollow, killing another good three or four of them.  
There still seem to be quite a lot of Hollow left and the girls did not know what to do. Mikaze looked over at Shiori, she was thinking of using Bankai to eradicate the rest of the Hollow, although it most likely was not a necessity to do so. The blue haired girl was about to shout over to Shiori to use Bankai, but she saw someone out of the corner of her eye and then noticed that the rest of the Hollow were no longer in front of the two. Shiori stared on in astonishment.  
“What the hell just happened?” Shiori asked.  
Mikaze saw a figure in the shadows and noticed the shade of the hair on the figure. Mikaze’s sword returned to its sealed stated and she placed it back in its sheath. She squinted to get a better look at the figure and noticed that he, she was assuming the person was a male, was just barely taller than she was. Being just inches taller than herself and with that shade of hair, there was only one person that she knew that looked like that.  
“Brother?” Mikaze asked.  
The figured looked at Mikaze and scowled then used shunpo to leave Mikaze and Shiori’s sight. Toushirou and the others had arrived just in time to see Mikaze running after someone.  
“Brother!” Mikaze shouted as she kept running.  
“Mikaze stop!” Toushirou shouted, causing Mikaze to stop in her tracks.  
She might have been hurt and angry with her Captain, but he was still her Captain and she still listened to his orders. Mikaze turned around to walk back to the group when she was grabbed by another figure causing her to scream and kick.  
“No! Mikaze!” Toushirou shouted as he started running toward the girl and her captor, unsheathing his Zanpakutou to strike.  
The figure was gone in the blink of an eye, using shunpo to get away, but not before Mikaze could scream one last time.  
“TOUSHIROU!”  
Toushirou stared at the space Mikaze had just occupied with shock on his face then dropped to his knees, pounding the ground with his fist and screamed in anger. Mikaze had just been taken right before his eyes and if he hadn’t been so stubborn then none of this would have happened. Who was that guy and what did he want with Mikaze? Didn’t he hear her call out to someone, calling him brother? As far as Toushirou could remember from what Mikaze had told him, her brother Tensei, was dead. It was time for Toushirou to do some investigating and find the girl who had become his light.


	5. Reunion

“Put me down!” Mikaze shouted to her captor as she pounded on his back with her small fists; she was being held over the taller person’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes and she didn’t like it one bit. Who was this person and why did he take her suddenly? More importantly, where was this person taking her?  
“You can put her down now.” A voice came from the other side of the room and Mikaze recognized it right away.  
Mikaze’s captor pulled her off its shoulder and unceremoniously plopped her down on the floor causing the short, blue haired girl to stumble and fall onto her butt.  
“Ouch. Don’t you know how to treat a lady?” Mikaze asked as she looked up at the face of the person in front of her. The person who had carried her had to have been a good six feet tall at least, with a creamy mocha complexion, short brown hair that was slightly spiked and the lightest blue eyes she had ever seen, even lighter than Rangiku’s eyes. He had a scar on the left side of his face as if someone else had cut him with a sword in a battle that swept up from his cheek, past his eye to his hair line.  
“Thank you for bringing her here. Please leave us.” The familiar voice said from behind Mikaze as she stood up.  
The taller man nodded then used shunpo to leave the room. Mikaze turned around and saw the face that matched voice, confirming her thoughts that the speaker was in fact her twin brother.  
“Brother!! How are you not dead? You died in my arms.” Mikaze said.  
“It was a staged death. Mother and father are dead, so are our brothers and sisters. I’m sorry.”  
“But why was your death staged? Why didn’t you tell me you were still alive?” Mikaze asked, she was so confused.  
“I wanted to contact you many times, but I couldn’t. That’s what being part of the Secret Force is, keeping yourself secret, even from your loved ones.”  
“What is the Secret Force?” Mikaze asked.  
“I shouldn’t even tell you any of this. You shouldn’t have seen me. For even seeing one of us, you could be executed.” Tensei told his sister.  
“Then what was the point in kidnapping me?” Mikaze was starting to get angry with her brother.  
Tensei looked into Mikaze’s green eyes with his own same shade of green ones. “If a Shinigami knows even the slightest thing about the Secret Force, that person is to be either executed or to live in the realm of the Secret Force. I don’t wish to see you dead, Kaze, so I will plead with my Captain to let you stay here with me.”  
“Brother…” Mikaze’s green eyes started to tear up, she had cried so much today and both times it had been someone she loved deeply that had made her cry.  
“I’m sorry, Kaze, but if it were up to me, I’d let you go without a hitch. You must have friends there and someone you love.”  
Mikaze turned away from her brother’s gaze; she did not want to talk about that person just now. Mikaze felt arms embrace her around the shoulders and her brother’s chin rest upon her right shoulder.  
“Please don’t cry, Kaze. I hate to see you hurting like this.” Tensei kissed his little sister on the cheek. “Please cheer up. Aren’t you at least happy to see me?”  
“I am happy to see you, but how am I supposed to cheer up when you’re going to be keeping me from my life?” Mikaze asked in a weak voice, tears still in her eyes, not daring to spill them in front of her brother.  
“You can start a new life here with me, Kaze. We can be brother and sister once more.” Tensei whispered into Mikaze’s ear.  
“As much as I’m happy to see you alive, you aren’t the same Tensei that I remember from when we were children.” Mikaze’s tears were now gone, but there was still somewhat of a sad look in the green orbs.  
“Kaze?” Tensei asked as Mikaze moved away from him.  
“I have a family there, in the Seireitei, my friends, my Division. Everyone around me there is my family and they make me happy. Even if sometimes we can’t always tell each other how we feel, we know the feelings are there and that’s enough. We’ll always be there for one another and protect each other.” Mikaze smiled as she thought of her friends; Shiori, Momo, Rangiku, all the other Division members and Toushirou. “Even if I can’t truly be with him, if I’m close to him, I’ll be happy. That’s what I originally thought, and I should be happy with that.”  
“So, you do love someone there.” It was more of a statement then a question.  
Mikaze turned around to look at her brother again, resolve and realization in her green eyes. “Yes, I love my Captain and I should be happy just being near him. He can’t worry about just me, he has responsibilities to the Division, so I should stop being selfish and just be happy to be near him.”  
“Didn’t you hear me, though? You won’t be able to leave here.” Tensei said.  
Mikaze nodded and kept looking at her brother. “He has a responsibility to his Division and being a member of his Division, he has a responsibility to rescue me.”  
“He wouldn’t know where to even start looking.” Tensei said a little cocky.  
“He’s Toushirou Hitsugaya, he’ll find a way.” Mikaze said calmly.  
Tensei turned away from his younger twin sister angrily. She was being way too calm for someone who might die. She believed that her Captain was going to save her, but how could he when he didn’t even know where to start looking for the blue haired girl? Tensei left the room to cool off and decided to plead with his Captain to at least let the girl live.

Toushirou requested emergency passage back to the Seireitei for himself and the group the moment they arrived back at Urahara’s shop. Once back through the Senkaimon, Toushirou quickly went to the Division One meeting hall to talk to the Head Captain. Shiori decided to follow the short Captain, Mikaze was her best friend after all and she wanted to find the small girl just as much as Toushirou did. Rangiku also followed since the matter involved a member of their Division. The large doors were opened for them as soon as the three arrived; Toushirou rushed inside and knelt before the Head Captain.  
“Head Captain Yamamoto, I would like to request an emergency rescue team to find a Division member of mine. It seems that the Secret Force has taken Mikaze Kawahone.” Toushirou explained.  
“What reason would the Secret Force have to take Mikaze Kawahone?” the Head Captain asked.  
“It seems that she has seen and recognized one of their members, sir.” Toushirou was trying to keep his voice steady as to not show that he wanted to find the girl mainly because he loved her.  
“Hm, this is a dilemma.” Yamamoto said.  
Shiori stepped up next to Toushirou and bowed. “Grandfather, please approve Captain Hitsugaya’s request. You know how much of an asset Kawahone is to the Seireitei.”  
“I do; therefore, your request is granted. Although, I expect you to fully prepare for a battle. They will not give the girl up easily.” Yamamoto explained.  
“Understood, sir.” Toushirou said as he bowed.  
“I would like the three of you to stay. I will be calling an emergency meeting.”  
“Yes, sir.” The three said in unison.  
The Head Captain sent out many black butterflies with orders for all Captains and Lieutenants to head to the Division One meeting hall. The Captains and Lieutenants started showing up very quickly. The first to arrive was Soifon, the Captain of Division Two, a rather petite woman who had short black hair with two long braids bound in white cloth, ending with large gold rings. She wore the typical Captain’s haori with a yellow obi tied around her waist, which also tied her Zanpakutou to her back. Also, being the Commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidou, or rather the Stealth Force, she wore a uniform which had no sleeves and didn’t cover her back, although she did wear long, black arm bands to make her uniform look like the typical Shinigami robes. Her grey eyes looked rather angry looking most of the time.  
Oumaeda Marechiyo, the Lieutenant of Division Two, followed behind his Captain. The man was rather large, about twice as tall as Soifon and some would say a good four times her weight. He wore his black hair with sideburns and a point at the top of his head; he seemed as if he was balding since his hair line was quite far back on his head. He also wore a large purple collar with his Shinigami robes and expensive, personalized jewelry around his neck, wrists and fingers. His eyes were black and beady looking, and he had a bag of snacks in his hands.  
Next to arrive were Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba, Captain and Lieutenant of the Seventh Division. Komamura was the tallest of the Captains, standing at 9’5” tall with white and light brown fur. His uniform included large shoulder pads that were worn over his haori and large, plated boots instead of the standard sandals. His golden eyes were like liquid amber and he looked like he might be nice to pet.  
Iba was tall, but obviously shorter than his Captain, standing at six feet tall. He wore nothing special with his uniform except for the fact that he wore sunglasses on his face. His black hair looked to be cut in a peculiar way, sideburns and flat on the top of his head. There was nothing exactly special about the man, although he did look a bit tough.  
Shiroi was in complete awe in the presence of Retsu Unohana, the Captain of Division Four, a very youthful looking woman whose black hair was fixed into a braid in front of her just under her chin and her blue eyes were very kind and had a motherly look to them. Unohana only stood at 5’2 ½‘, but she carried herself with pride. Behind her was Isane Kotetsu, the tallest female in the room standing at 6’1 ½‘, she also wore the normal Shinigami robes, her silver hair was short save for the few strands that were decorated with gold beads. She also wore long red earrings that dangled from her ears. Her grey eyes were youthful and kind looking.  
Next to enter were Shunsui Kyouraku and Juushirou Ukitake walking side by side with the Lieutenant of the Eighth Division, Nanao Ise, behind them. Kyouraku was the Captain of Division Eight, his wavy, brown hair tied into a long pony tail with long bangs framing his face. Along with his Shinigami robes and Captain’s haori, he wore a pink floral kimono draped over his shoulders and a straw hat. His face was somewhat rugged looking with the thin facial hair that graced his upper lip and chin.  
Nanao was a young-looking woman with black hair that she wore pinned up with some bangs at the side of her face and she wore thin framed glasses over her blue eyes. Her expression was that of someone who was somewhat uptight and followed the rules as best she could. She also seemed to be a bit annoyed with her Captain.  
Ukitake was a tall man with an emaciated appearance, caused by an illness which also caused the man’s long hair to turn white and his green eyes seemed to shine even through his sickness. His Captain’s haori was long sleeved, unlike any of the other Captain’s Shiori had seen so far. Ukitake had no Lieutenant to speak of, although he did have two third seat members that constantly fought for his attention.  
The next Captain and Lieutenant to enter the hall were of Division Six, Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abari. Byakuya was a young aristocrat that had the look of permanent boredom on his face; his black hair was somewhat long, shoulder length at best, with a white headpiece on top and the right side of his head that symbolized his nobility. He wore a white, silk scarf around his neck which was a family heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation. Byakuya was surprised to see the violet eyed, purple haired girl in the meeting hall, but when she looked at him, the two shared a tender moment for just a split second before he looked away and composed himself once again.  
Renji was someone that Shiori had already known for quite some time since the two were just in the human world with Toushirou and the others. Renji already knew what this meeting was about and didn’t like the fact that a member of any Division was missing. Renji had brown eyes and long crimson hair, which he wore in a ponytail at the back of his head. He had tattoos on his forehead, which were mostly covered by a white headband.  
Mayuri Kurotsuchi was the Captain of the Division Twelve and was very strange indeed, not just in look, but in personality as well. The Twelfth Captain wore the normal Shinigami robes and Captain’s haori, although he too had long sleeves on his haori. His face looked as if it were painted white and black and he wore a gold headpiece that went around his face, making him look somewhat like an Egyptian Pharaoh. His blue hair was worn in a style that made him look even more like a Pharaoh and he wore a large purple collar. His gold eyes had a bit of a mischievous look to them as he smiled, revealing golden teeth.  
Nemu Kurotsuchi was Mayuri’s Lieutenant and one of his many experiments; she quietly walked behind the strange Captain with her hands in front of her. Her black hair was kept in a neat braid at her back and her green eyes looked either sleepy or bored. Her uniform was not like the others since she didn’t wear the traditional hakama, which made it seem as if she were wearing a short dress.  
Kenpachi Zaraki, the tallest of the men in the room, save for Komamura, was a wild man with his black hair in spikes and tiny bells tied to the ends of each spike. He wore a patch over his right eye as to curve his reiatsu and had a long, straight scar going down the length of the left side of his face. His haori appeared to be tattered and ripped at the bottom and sleeves.  
Kenpachi’s Lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, rode on his shoulder. She was a tiny, little girl with pink hair, pink eyes and rosy cheeks. She was extremely childish and loved to eat sweets whenever possible.  
The next three people to enter the meeting hall were Shuuhei Hisagi, Lieutenant of Division Nine, Izuru Kira, the Lieutenant of Division Five, and Momo Hinamori, the Lieutenant of Division Five, all of them now acting Captains of their respective Divisions.  
Hisagi was an average man, although his dark grey eyes were hard, his face had three straight scars over his right eye that lead down to his cheek, the number “69” tattooed on his left cheek and a blue stripe tattooed over the bridge of his nose. His black hair was spiked, and he wore a black choker around his neck.  
Kira was a timid, gloomy and introspective man with shoulder length blond hair with bangs that covered his left eye, his blue eyes small. A lot of people said that since he seemed weak and indifferent, it meant that he was incapable of being a leader, but if the time called for it, he seemed to be strong.  
Momo was a small girl whose black hair was placed into a bun in a light colored tied cloth and her brown eyes seemed hopeful, but a bit sad. Momo smiled when she saw Toushirou, the two had been best friends growing up, but Momo’s smile faded when she saw the determined, almost desperate look on his face.  
Each of the Captains and Lieutenants got into place, except for Toushirou and Rangiku who stood where they were with Shiori. The doors closed after everyone was inside, which was also a sign that the meeting was now in session.  
“I have called you all here to discuss an urgent matter. A member of Division Ten, Mikaze Kawahone, has been kidnapped while in the human world on a mission.” Yamamoto stated.  
Sock graced the faces of most of the Captain’s and Lieutenant’s as they heard the news.  
“Who would do such a thing?” Ukitake asked.  
“Before I continue, all persons not of Captain status must swear that what I am about to tell you will not leave this room.” Head Captain Yamamoto instructed as he looked at all of the Lieutenants and then stopped when his gaze reached his granddaughter, Shiori.  
Each of the Lieutenants, and Shiori, had sworn to keep what the Head Captain was about to tell them a secret from anyone outside the meeting hall.  
“Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto, please fall in line with everyone else. I know this greatly concerns you and your Division, but I would prefer order in this meeting.” The Head Captain instructed the Captain and Lieutenant of Division Ten.  
Toushirou and Rangiku both nodded and fell into line with the other Captains and Lieutenants, Rangiku stood behind and slightly to Toushirou’s left.  
“To answer Captain Ukitake’s question, the kidnapper was a member of the Secret Force.” Yamamoto stated.  
“The Secret Force?” Komamura asked. “Why in the world would the Secret Force kidnap a member of the Gotei 13?”  
“Kawahone came across one of their members and identified him. The Captain’s know that if anyone, including members of the Gotei 13, find out even the slightest thing about the Secret Force, they are to either be executed, which is most common, or stay in the realm of the Secret Force. I am ordering an emergency rescue of Mikaze Kawahone. This order is for all Captains and Lieutenants alone. Anyone not holding these titles is ordered to stay within the Seireitei.” Yamamoto said.  
“But Mikaze is a dear friend of mine! I should be able to be part of the rescue team!” Shiori burst out emotionally.  
The Head Captain tapped his cane on the floor, the sound resonating loudly throughout the room. “Silence, Shiori. My orders are final.” Head Captain Yamamoto stated in a stern voice.  
Shiori bowed. “Yes, sir.” Shiori wanted to rescue Mikaze just as much as Toushirou did; the smaller girl was the only true friend that the purple haired girl had. Mikaze was like a little sister to Shiori and she was angry at herself for not being able to keep the girl from getting taken.  
“This rescue will be top priority until Mikaze Kawahone is safely returned to the Seireitei. I will give everyone an hour to ready themselves.” The Head Captain stated. “You are dismissed.”  
Toushirou stayed in place until the other Captains were no longer in the room and bowed to the Head Captain. “Thank you, sir.”  
“I know that this girl means more to you than just a member of your Division. We will use any means necessary to retrieve her safely.” Yamamoto said.  
“Thank you again, sir.” Toushirou said before her stood up and left the meeting hall.  
Shiori stood outside the doors of the Division One meeting hall, her fists balled up in anger. She really wanted to punch something or someone.  
“Anger will not change his mind.” A voice said from just behind the purple haired girl.  
Shiori looked to her right to see the Captain of Division Six, Byakuya Kuchiki, standing just slightly behind her.  
“I understand that, Captain Kuchiki, but Mikaze is my friend. I don’t see why I have to stay here while the rest of you rescue her.” Shiori said with anger still apparent in her voice.  
“The Head Captain is just concerned for you safety.” Byakuya’s smooth voice said.  
Every word that came out of Byakuya’s mouth seemed to calm Shiori, although she was still mad at her grandfather for not letting her be a part of the rescue team.  
“We may talk more about this in my office if you wish, Lady Shiori.” Byakuya’s voice came like silk. “There is plenty of time before I must leave with the others.”  
Did Shiori just hear him correctly? Did he just invite her to go with him to his office to talk?  
Byakuya started walking down the steps leading away from Division One. Shiori wasn’t sure if she should follow him or not. The two of them had a strange relationship, even though Shiori was from a noble family and the granddaughter of the Head Captain, the Captain of Division Six still had a hard time sharing his emotions with the girl. Shiori decided to follow Byakuya to the Division Six Captain’s office, although the journey was long and silent. Why did it have to be so silent? The trip wouldn’t have been so bad if the two had talked even just the slightest bit, but Shiori didn’t want to say anything out of turn in case it upset or annoyed the Captain. Once the two were close enough to see the office, Shiori was almost in tears with joy. Why did she follow Byakuya in the first place? She wondered that to herself and then realized that he wanted to talk to her and that might have meant that they could have an intimate moment with each other. Byakuya opened the door to his office and waited for the girl to step inside before entering the office himself.  
Shiori stepped into the office; it was impeccably neat. Bookshelves were built into the walls and lined either side of the room. There was a single desk at the end of the room with stacks of papers and an ink set on the table. There was one other chair in the room that sat to one side of the multi-paned window. Byakuya sat at his desk and began to work on the papers on his desk. Shiroi watched him for a few minutes, watching as his hand moved in smooth, fluid-like motions on the parchment.  
After a few moments silence, Shiori couldn’t take much more. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for the rescue?”  
“There is not much preparation that needs to be done. The Head Captain is only giving us this time to get some last-minute affairs taken care of.” Shiori knew that his answer would be something to that affect.  
Shiori sighed and started thinking about Mikaze, she wondered if the smaller girl was doing alright.  
“I’ll say this again, your grandfather is only concerned for you safety, Lady Shiori.” Byakuya said as he stood up from his desk and made his way over to the girl. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head to look up at him. His grey eyes became soft as he looked into Shiori’s violet orbs. “I too am concerned about your safety and agree with the Head Captain, Lady Shiori.”  
Shiori felt her heart start to pound as Byakuya started moving closer to her, their faces just inches apart.  
“I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.” Byakuya said softly, moving ever closer to the girl who had stolen his heart.  
“Byakuya, I…” Shiori started to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.  
Byakuya glared at the door from the side of his eyes as the knock came again. Whoever could be interrupting this moment that he was having with the beauty before him? He stood up straight and walked over to the door, opening it just slightly to see who was there.  
Shiori’s heart felt as if it was going to jump out of her chest and she was pretty sure that blush had crept up her cheeks. Byakuya had almost just kissed her; he was so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face and then they had to get interrupted by someone. Who the hell was this intruder to their tender moment? Shiori felt as if she could kill the person responsible for ruining a moment where Byakuya had opened himself up and showed his heart to her. She knew that there would be no way for the Captain to come back to the moment they were just having once the person at the door was gone, so she decided to leave.  
“Excuse me, Captain Kuchiki.” Shiori said as she came up behind him.  
“Of course.” Byakuya said as he moved to let the purple haired girl step out through the door and then continued his conversation with the person at the door.  
Shiori walked away from the Division Six building and sighed to herself. It was going to be a long time until Mikaze returned and all Shiori could do was wait for the smaller girl’s rescue. Shiori didn’t like to wait for anything, even for Byakuya, but that was just something she had to wait for. She wasn’t really one to take the initiative with things like that.

Tensei walked back to his room, back to his sister who was at peace with dying even though it meant that she wouldn’t see any of the people she cared about ever again. She had the crazy idea that her Captain would come and save her on the mere notion that she was a member of his Division and he had a responsibility to his Division members. She was only one Division member and probably of a large Division at that. What would it matter if one of their members was missing? Tensei walked into his room and looked at his sister sadly.  
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to plead with my Captain to let you live. Your execution is set for tomorrow morning.” Tensei was sad to tell his twin sister this news; he didn’t want her to be killed. He would rather have her live with him; at least then she would be alive. Tensei was getting angry with his sister for being so calm about the news. “You’re not even sad about dying? You’d rather die?”  
“Even if you were able to plead for my life, it would be as if I were dead anyway. I wouldn’t be able to see any of the people I care about.” Mikaze’s face was calm as she said the words.  
“If you died it would make so many people sad, Kaze. I would be the saddest.” Tensei pleaded with his sister.  
Mikaze shook her head. “There are lots of people who would be extremely sad if I were to die.”  
Tensei was frustrated with his younger twin sister now. “Why are you so calm about all of this?”  
“Because I’m not going to die, Captain Hitsugaya will save me.” Mikaze said calmly to her older twin brother.  
Tensei sighed and sat on the floor next to his sister and took her in his arms to hug her. “You have no idea how I’ve missed you, Kaze.”  
“I’ve missed you, too, brother.” Mikaze said as she let Tensei hug her from the side and touched his arm with her hand.  
“I don’t know why you wouldn’t be happy just living here with me.” Tensei said sadly.  
Mikaze laughed a little. “It’s not that I wouldn’t be happy here with you, brother. Like I said before, I have a happy life in the Seireitei. I have lots of friends, although I have one very best friend. She’s like a sister to me. I don’t usually have to tell her anything because she can read me like a book. Then there’s my Captain.” Mikaze smiled when she mentioned Toushirou, although she didn’t even notice the tears that started to form in her eyes until one fell onto her hand.  
Tensei suggested that the two of them get a bit of sleep, even though neither one of them wanted to sleep. Sleeping meant the morning would come that much quicker, but they both had fallen victim to slumber.

Morning came all too quickly for the twins as the sun spilled in through the solitary window in the room. Usually the sun on Mikaze’s face was somewhat pleasant, although she never did like the sun waking her up from sleep. This time, the sun in her face meant an execution was soon underway. The blue haired girl groaned as she opened her green eyes to see that her brother had already gotten up. Tensei looked at his sister sadly and opened the door.  
“I’ll give you a moment to yourself.” He said before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.  
Mikaze was alone with nothing but her thoughts now. She really did hope that Toushirou would rescue her. She really didn’t want to die, she knew that it would make everyone she knew sad, especially Toushirou. To lose another loved one would probably have been the last thing that the white-haired boy needed. Mikaze was afraid of dying, but she didn’t want to show her brother that she was afraid. She wanted to show her brother that she was brave and strong now and that she didn’t always need his protection. Although, she still wished that she had her brother around to talk to and to hug her when she was sad. The door opened once more with Tensei in the entry way, still looking sadly at his sister.  
“It’s time to go.” Tensei said sadly.  
Mikaze stood up and followed her brother outside, still showing him a brave face. The two walked in complete silence, neither one of them knowing quite what to say to the other considering the situation. The journey was not very long at all, which surprised Mikaze. This place was not nearly as large as the Seireitei was; it was about the size of one of the Division barracks. Mikaze also noticed that her Zanpakutou had been taken from her, sometime during her slumber most likely. They couldn’t have someone who was about to be executed try to defend themselves, of course. Tensei led Mikaze to a grassy field with wild flowers growing here and there; at least the setting was nice. The same man who had brought Mikaze to this world was walking up to her with what looked like a black scarf. Mikaze looked over at her brother, starting to let the fear really show on her face now.  
“I’m sorry, Kaze.” Tensei couldn’t bear to look at his sister any longer.  
The very tall, mocha colored man never spoke a word to Mikaze as he placed the blindfold over her eyes and tied it behind her head, then bound her hands with rope behind her back. Mikaze could feel the fear in her stomach creeping up into her throat and she knew tears were building in her eyes. If Toushirou was going to rescue her, wouldn’t he have been here by now? Maybe Tensei was right, no one knew where this place was so how was Toushirou supposed to find it to rescue her? All the blue haired girl could do was wait for the fatal blow that would be her end.  
A woman with long blond hair pulled back into a high ponytail came up to stand next to the very tall man. The two of them looked at each other and nodded, even though they didn’t like executions, this was one duty that they had to do. The two pulled out their swords which caused Mikaze to twitch in fear, but that’s all she could do, she was frozen otherwise. The blond woman and the tall man moved toward the blue haired girl quickly; Mikaze waited for the pain of sword strikes, but all she heard was the scraping of metal on metal. She felt someone behind her removing her blindfold and bindings. Mikaze was astonished, she couldn’t believe her eyes, in front of her stood her Captain, the white-haired, teal eyed boy that she loved so much.  
“Stay away from her.” Toushirou said threateningly.  
Mikaze’s heart was leaping for joy as she fell to her knees and cried with happiness. She knew he would rescue her and it was better late than never, but at least she hadn’t been killed. Just a split second too late and she would have been killed. Toushirou made sure that the two were not going to come any closer; who would with as much back up as he had? He turned around and saw the blue haired girl kneeling on the ground, crying her eyes out. He knelt in front of her and took her in his arms. Mikaze put her arms around Toushirou and didn’t want to let go.  
“It’s okay now. I’m here, Kaze.” Toushirou soothed the blue haired girl in his arms, smoothing her hair.  
Tensei looked at the white-haired boy holding his sister in shock. Had the boy used the same nickname that he had used for his sister? Tensei then noticed the look on the white-haired boy’s face as he looked at the blue haired girl; the soft expression of love and the determined look of protection. Tensei understood now, this was the Captain that Mikaze had talked about, Toushirou Hitsugaya, the boy that she loved. It seemed that the Captain loved the blue haired girl in return or else he would not have been so determined to protect her.  
“I would like to have an audience with your Captain, if you would.” Head Captain Yamamoto stated.  
“He is this way, Head Captain.” The blond woman said.  
Head Captain Yamamoto walked toward the blond woman and then followed her as she led him to the Captain’s quarters. Mikaze sniffled as she stopped crying and looked around to see who exactly had come to her rescue. She started to get a confused look on her face.  
“What’s wrong?” Toushirou asked.  
“Where’s Shiori? I was sure she would have come with all of you.” Mikaze said, looking at Toushirou.  
“She’s not with us for her own safety. We aren’t guaranteed that we’ll be able to take you back safely. We are all prepared to fight to take you back.” Toushirou stated.  
“No! That can’t happen, you must not fight.” Mikaze pleaded.  
“We may not have to, but it is a possibility that we are prepared to take.” Toushirou said before gently kissing the girl on the forehead.  
Mikaze closed her eyes; the feel of his lips on her forehead was nice. She wished that he would kiss her lips, but now was not the time or place. Toushirou still held the blue haired girl in his arms; he didn’t care anymore, and he remembered that Shiori had told him that everyone had already known that the two were madly in love with each other. Even the Head Captain had known and put a plan together to get the two to confess their feelings for one another. The Head Captain had taken Toushirou aside before they left for this world to tell the young Captain that love was the strangest but best emotion that there ever was and that he should embrace that emotion and let go of everything else. Everything that the young Captain had been through in his life would seem to melt away if he just let this one girl into his heart and cared for her the way that he should. Mikaze was a light that Toushirou needed to find his way through all his darkness.  
The Head Captain and Captain of the Secret Force were now walking back to the group of Gotei 13 Captains and Lieutenants. It had seemed that the talks had gone peacefully, but the Head Captain had a slightly grave look on his face. Toushirou thought the worst, but kept his composure as he stood up, helping Mikaze stand with him, taking her hand in his own. Mikaze’s eyes started to tear again, she too thought the worst was about to happen. The Head Captain looked at the two young ones and patted them both on the head as if they were children; well to him, they were children.  
“We have decided that you are free to go,” the Captain of the Secret Force said in his gruff voice, which did not match the man as well as it might have if he looked older. “On the condition that if anything is said to anyone about our Division, that all ties with the Gotei 13 will be severed and there will be severe consequences.” He looked at Mikaze; she looked so relieved to hear these words. “If we get word that anyone of you has said anything, prepare for a war.”  
Mikaze was looking back to the Captain of the Secret Force and nodded. “I will not say a word.” She swore.  
“Come.” The Head Captain said to everyone.  
Toushirou started to walk with Mikaze’s hand still in his, but Mikaze held Toushirou back and looked at him with a kind, loving smile on her face.  
“Wait, I have something I need to do before we leave.” Mikaze said.  
Toushirou nodded and let go of Mikaze’s hand. He watched her walk over to her twin brother.  
“I love you, brother.” Mikaze said as she hugged him.  
Tensei hugged his sister back and was crying a little. “I love you, too, Kaze.”  
Mikaze let go of Tensei and looked at him. “Please don’t cry, brother. Just remember how happy I am in the Seireitei.” She smiled.  
Toushirou came up behind Mikaze and touched her shoulder. “Come on, we need to leave.”  
Mikaze nodded then kissed her brother on the cheek. “Good-bye, brother.”  
Tensei hugged his sister one last time before she turned and walked hand in hand with the boy she loved.  
“You better protect her with your life, you hear me?” Tensei shouted to Toushirou.  
“I plan to.” Toushirou shouted back, causing Mikaze to blush slightly.  
Mikaze waved back to her brother as the gateway that had been opened for them to grant everyone passage back to the Seireitei closed.


End file.
